The Agricultural Base of the Pre-Incan Andean Civilizations

Author(s): Arthur Morris

Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 165, No. 3 (Nov., 1999), pp. 286-295
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the
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 Vol. 165, No. 3, November 1999, pp. 286-295
EheGeographicaljrournal,

The Agricultural Base of the pre-Incan Andean

civilizations
ARTHUR MORRIS
andTopographic
of Geography
Department GlasgowG12 8QQ
Science,Universi of Glasgow,East Quadrangle,
E-mail:amoms@geog.gla.ac.uk
injtanuaCy
Thispaperwasacceptedforpublication 1999

Pre-Incancivilizationsof the CentralAndesoccupiedan area,at over4000 metreseleva-

tion, whichis todayregardedas marginalfor many basiccrops.Awayfromthe citiesof
the region,most land is naturalgrazingwith very limitedcultivation.This papertackles
the questionof how the ancientcivilizationscouldhavebuilta densepopulationsupport-
ing both city life and a highlyorganizedsocialand economicsocietyas evidencedfrom
archaeological tech-
findings.Partof the answeris thoughtto lie in the typeof agricultural
nologyemployed,togetherwith the choice of food plants,which togetherensuredboth
quantityand qualityof sustenance.Considerationis also givento the potentialfor use of
the ancienttechnologyin present-dayfarming,as a meansof fosteringsustainabledevel-
opmentwithoutrelianceon investmentby stateor outsideagencies.
KEY WORDS: Peru;raisedfields;waru waru; indigenousknowledge;ancienttechnology

THE UNDERSTANDING of the prehistoric wasalsothe positiontakenby Posnansky(1945)on the

and particularlythe pre-IncanAndean cul-
tureshas shiftednoticeablyin recentdecades,
attributingto themhigherlevelsof achievement,both
in qualitativeand quantitativeterms.One of the cen-
tralelementsin the re-evaluationis the realizationthat
a strong economic base, includingagriculturalpro-
duction, was in existencefrom at least 2000 years
beforethe present.Thispaperbringstogethersomeof
the newer evidence,to show that the local base was
even strongerthan is currentlyacknowledgedby sci-
entistsworkingin disparatespecialisms.An associated
question,whichcannotbe fullyansweredin the paper,
is whetherthe ancienttechnologycan be revivedand
adoptedby modernfarmers.Indigenoustechnologyis
currentlypraised as a way to achieve sustainable
development,but once lost it may be difficultto
recoverevenin the face of obviousproductiveadvan-
tages.
Stagesof understanding
Earlymodernvisitorsto the high Andespositedthat
the Tiwanakuculturewas one of limitedscale,and its
centre,the city of Tiwanaku,merelya ceremonialsite
with a tiny residentpopulation.This was the position
takenby WendellBennett(1934),the leadingNorth
Arnericanworkeron the areain the 1930s and 1940s.
A more modern positionwas adoptedby writers
such as Lanning (1962), who regarded the Lake
Titicacabasin as having true cities ratherthan just
ceremonialcentresfrom about 2000 years ago. This
00 16-7398/99/0003 0286/$00.20/0
basisof hisveryextensivestudiesof the Tiwanakusite.
There was a permanentand substantialpopulation,
whose estimatedsize has grownfrom one generation
of archaeologiststo another and is thought now to
be over 100000 persons.This idea is accepted by
modernBolivianarchaeologists (Sangines,1995),who
also regardTiwanakuas not an isolatedcentre, but
the head of a whole urban hierarchy.This kind of
structureof urbanlife, for GordonChilde,requireda
strong agriculturalbase to supply the cities with a
constantand large flow of foodstufEs. The natureof
the agriculturalbasisfor such a largeand permanent
population is problematic,and the object of this
paper. Tiwanaku became capital of an extensive
empire,coveringsome600 000 squarekilometres,and
maintainedits positionnot for a shortperiodbut from
the time of firstexpansionin the eighthcentury,for
some 400 years until collapsesome time just before
1200 AD (Sangines,1995: 28-9). Priorto that, sub-
stantialcity-basedregional kingdomshad emerged
overthe firstmillenniumBC in the area aroundLake
Titicaca(Kolata,1993).
The central,paradigmaticexplanationfor success
and expansionof the altiplanocultureis in the thesis
ofJohnMurrawhichis, however,criticizedin thepre-
sentpaper.Murra'sexplanationof resourceuseby the
ancient civilizationsfocusesmainly on the access to
the variedterritoriesof the empire,and in particular
to the differentresourcesavailableat differentecologi-
cal levels, possiblebecause of the close proximityof
t 1999 The Royal GeographicalSociety
 AGRICULTURAL
BASEOFTHEPRE-INCAN
ANDEANCIVILIZATIONS
high mountains,temperate zones and sub-tropical
areas.The modelof the simultaneousexploitationof a
numberof ecologicallevels,by groupswhichperiodi-
callymigratebete een zones,or by outercoloniesfrom
the homeland, comes from Murra's 1972 paper,
reprintedin the collectionprinted in 1975 (Murra,
1975).EntitledEl control vertical
deunmaximo depisoseco-
logicosen la economia
de las sociedades
andinas,
this paper
was very widelyacknowledgedand followedby most
economicarchaeologists in subsequentwritingson the
prehistoricAndeanmountaincivilizations.Browman
(1984) adopts a variantof this model, the Altiplano
model,to assertthatthe accessto outerresourceswas
through a trading network and urban hierarchy,
ratherthan active occupationof outer zones by the
home populationor a group of it. But his emphasis
continueson the need for wide-ranginglinkagesto
outerzoneswithdifferentresources.
Murra'smodel,basedon his PhD workin the 1950s
and subsequentstudy,is of fundamentalimportance
to our understandingof Andeanuse of resources,but
it shouldnot be used indiscriminately to explainthe
wholeof economiclifein the Andes.Thereare several
criticalpointsto be made:
1 The modelis partlyto do with the economicinter-
linkingand movementof goods between different
ecologicalnichesin the mountainenvironment,but
it also concernscolonizationand the establishment
of territorialrights,a processthatmusthavebeen a
centralaim in the periodsof empireexpansionfor
the Inca empire.In the outer territories,colonists
from the centre were used to exploit the new
resources.It is not certain that this model was
applicablefor Tiwanaku,or that it expandedterri-
torially as did the Inca empire. Some evidence
suggests that it remained a highland kingdom
(Browman,1984).
2 The pre-Columbianmovementof goods into the
centre from the outer ecologicalniches was pre-
dominantlynot of basicfood stufEs, but sumptuary
goods feedingthe more advancedneeds of a high
civilization.Coca, peppers, timber and wooden
productsandcotton,werethe luxuryitemsfromthe
Yungas.Therewasa shorterdistancemovement,to
the high landsfor the cropsof potatoesor oca, or
for animalpasture?and downslopeto warmerval-
leys for maize growing,but thesewere movements
within one day or overnight.Even in the case of
maize, grown preferentiallyin the valley lands at
2000-3000 metres,thiswasnot a majorstaplecrop,
but one associatedwith religiousceremoniesand
the redistributional powersof the kingsandleaders,
and in all probabilitythe maize lands were in the
hands of the state. Maize was not really an
autochthonouscrop,but an import,associatedwith
power and with those who held it (Murra,1975a).
Relations between the main demographicand
power base in the high mountainsand the outer
areas?were thus somethinglike those describedby 287
Karl Polanyi (Polanyiet al., 1957) for the early
empiresgenerally;a self-sufficientland area, with
externallinksto outer areassolelyfor luxuryitems
on which the empiredid not reallydependfor sur-
vival.
It shouldalsobe notedthatMurramakesno quantita-
tive estimateof the proportionof food or rawmaterial
supplieswhichwas to be obtainedfromthe colonized
areas, comparedto that produced in the highland
cores.A largemovementof bulkycommoditieswould
have requiredan enormouseffortexpendedin trans-
port becauseof the mountainterrain,and this huge
effortis in factsuggested,by AlanKolata(1982;1989),
relying on the large herds of llamas for transport.
Kolata himself does not detail in any quantitative
termshow many llamaswould be needed for trans-
port,and seemsto havebeen uncertainas to whether
thisidea is a full explanationfor the sustenanceof the
highlandpopulation,as he also rehearsesthe idea of
climatechange,and the possibilityof a betteragricul-
turalclimatein thepast.
Anotherpoint, made by Knapp (1991: 11), is that
thereis no necessaryrationalityin the behaviourpat-
ternof Andeanfarmers,so thatan appealto the use of
differentecologicalnichesas the mostrationalpattern
is not secure.The rationalitymay be thoughtto lie in
the riskreductionthroughdiversification of crops,but
the farmermight then look for diversification within
his home area ratherthan expansionout into other
climaticzones. Rationalityin usingup the sparetime
availableto the farmers,who mightworkin one zone,
and then move to anotherratherthan stay idle for
some of the year, is also adducedas the main reason
for movementbetweenmultipleniches(Golte, 1987),
but there is no indicationin the Andes,that farmers
would give up free time, to be used for ceremonies,
visitsto friends,or fiestas,for the sakeof greaterpro-
duction.
Analternativeview
There has been a growing level of understanding
aboutthe technologyand nutritionalvalueof the alti-
plano agriculturalsystem, and collectively,the evi-
dence now is that this systemwas highlyproductive.
The use of manyecologicalnichesdoes not thushave
to form the central plank of any explanationof
resources.We may focus here on two aspects;one of
theseis the technologyof raisedfields,andthe otheris
the nutritionalvalue of some traditionalcrops. In
addition,some other featuresof Andean traditional
farmingarementionedin supportof the mainthesis.
Razsedhelds
Raisedfieldsare foundverywidelyin the
Americas(Denevan,1970)and havebeen tracedboth
in lowland and upland environments.In the high-
 ANDEANCIVILIZATIONS
BASEOFTHEPRE-INCAN
288 AGRICULTUL

raisedfield
ofJow77let
anddijt)ibutiotl
1. NleLa/ceLitisacawegiozl
Fig.
sou?Ge: Kolata, 1996

(see,
land, Aymarapeoples under the Tiwanaku empire
lands,they appearin flat or very gentlysloping of 10 or however,Bouysse-Cassagne,1992), it seemsappropri-
andtypicallyforma pattern of sets or bundles
broad ditches, with a cross- ateto use theAymaratermsukakollusforthem. over
20ridgesalternating with The interpretationof thesefieldshas changedvery
to five
sectionalwavelengthfromcrestto crestof three far wider, theyears. Smith et al. (1968)could only hazard
although in some areas they are and saw
metres, ended, tentativeconclusionsabout their function,and as a
formingfieldplatforms.The ditchesare open might serve them as means of reclaiming marsh land,
at either end such as lake or
having no enclosure
and the networks seen do techniquefor avoidingtemporaryfloodsfrom
to retainor keep out water, The rain,but wereuncertain about their use for organized
patterns typical of irrigation systems. in dry
not form very irrigation,and thought water conservation
height from ditch to ridge now visible is often periodswouldbe a major feature. Thermal functions
show that it was originally seen as
slight,but reconstructions in maintainingthe ridges frost-freewere and
one metreor more. where secondary.Morlon (1981) regarded irrigation
One of the key areas for these raisedfields, area drainageas the combinedpurposeof the raised for a
fields.
in the 1960s indicated an
the evidencestillvisible Titicaca Lennon(1983)followsthese authorsin arguingfunc-
of over 25 000 hectares,is that aroundLake to modern waterconservationfunction,andalsoa drainage
(Fig. 1). The original area before loss reviewof
amount, tion tojudgefromthe detailedpatterns.The
ploughagriculturemay have been twicethis of pre-Columbianagricultureby Smith (1987) also
to judge from the suitable areas in the pampas is likely to emphasizesthe drainage function, as well as the
Taracoand Ilave,whereintensive farming through ridging, and
trace of the ridges (Smith et al., 1968). increasedsoil depth achieved
have erasedall quechua mentionsthermaleffectsas a secondarymatter.Knapp
In Spanish,the fieldsare calledcamellones, in by the By the mid-1980s, however, Ryder and
waru wa^w. As they were probably developed
 AGRICULTURAL BASE OF THE PRE-INCANANDEAN CIVILIZATIONS
(1983) had alreadymoved on to another emphasis,
based on their study of raised fields in highland
Ecuador. The thermal protectionprouridedby the
ridgesnear Quito, at an altitude(2855 metres)where
strong diurnalvariationin temperaturewas typical
andtherewasa frostliabilltythroughoutthe year,was
seen as critical.Experimentalworkwith actualraised
fields and thermometersshowedthe role of these in
raisingtemperaturemorethan 1°Calargelyas a result
of the creationof a line of higher air temperatures
over the (water-filled) ditches.Becauseof this, it was
necessaryto have narrowridges and to protect the
plantswith ditcheson both sides.An explanationfor
the peculiarlynarrowridgesis thusgiven)as well as an
explanationfor the lackof organizedpatternssuch as
wouldbe neededfor irrigationor for drainage.Ryder
and Knapp's experimentshave been followed by
otherexperimentsin Peruat highlevels,and tempera-
turedifferencesas much as 2.5°(: found,providinga
powerful frost control (Sattaur) 1988). The most
detailedstudiesweremade on the Bolivianside of the
lake,by Ortloff(l 989),includingmeasurementsof the
soil temperatureas well as the air temperatureand
thatof the waterin the ditches.The lattercouldbe as
muchas 6 to 9°C higherthanthe outsideair tempera-
tureon coldnights.
The temperaturefunctionis of coursenot the sole
one of the sukaksllus.They also managedto maintain
high fertilityof the soil. Partlythis was due to their
formation through the piling up of soil from the
ditchesto buryvegetationand glvea deeprichtop soil
on the mounds.Partlyit wasdue to periodicreplenish-
mentsof this soil7 in the ditchcleaningexercises,with
aquaticplantsandsedimentenrichedby manurefrom
animalssuch as ducks and fish which occupied the
ditches.Experimentsin moderntimes(Kolata,1993:
18390) show there is a rapid colonizationof the
ditchesby plants and if encouraged,by fishes. The
water system would also give protection against
droughtsand floodsnas predictedby the earlierstu-
dentsof the system.
The experimentson productionlevelswentbeyond
academicexercises;theyinvolvednativefarmersfrom
the northern)Peruvianside of Lake Titicaca,under
the guidanceof ClarkEricksonof the Universityof
Illinois,from 1981) growing potatoes, quinoa, and
canihua traditionaluplandcrops,and achievingcrop
yields4 - 8 timesas largeas thosenormallyproduced
on flat fields. Potato yield levels of 1Q.6tonnes per
hectareheremay be comparedwithregionalaverages
of between1.6 and6 tonnes(Garaycochea,1987).In a
separateprojecton raisedfieldswith potatoeson the
southern,Bolivianside of the lake, organizedfrom
1986uathlocal people by the Universityof Chicagon
the ProyestvWilajawira (Kolata, 1989), comparable
differenceswerefound.Tnthe 1987- 88 growingsea-
son, one of intensefrostsaroundLake Titicaca,the
yield diffierencebetweenstandardplots and those in
289
raisedfieldsset up underKolata (Kolata,1993)was
2.4 tonnesper hectare)against42 tonnesper hectare,
or 21 tonnesper hectarewhen the areasoccupiedby
the ditches are excluded,roughlyhalf of the total.
These Bolierian resultsare even more extremethan in
Peru, but come from a slightlylower and less frost-
prone region, and may also relate to modest differ-
encesin cultivationtechnique(Kolata,1993:198).
Much more detailedworkhas been done by agri-
cultural extension agents and by the special pro-
gramme on re-introductionof the raisedfields as a
moderntechnology,under the auspicesof the Inter-
InstitutionalProgrammeforWraru Waru(PIWA),run
by the BinationalCommitteefor the Managementof
LakeTiticaca,at Puno.Theirfigures,basedon a con-
tinuingstudyof the waysin whichthe technologymay
be broughtback,indicatea ratioof perhaps3:1 in the
crops of potatoes, between about 15 tonnes and 5
tonnesper hectare(Berastain,1992).In mostyearsthe
differencesare in fact less) but in crisis years of
droughtor flood, zero crops are likely on the open
pampa,whilethe waruwarualwaysmanagesomekind
of crop.
This featureis of great significancein the under-
standingof the ancientfood supplysystemforthe high
civilizationsof the Andes. Some studentsof the area
had concludedthat the ancientsystemswere irrele-
vant to present-dayaltiplanoconditions,because of
climatechange,or geologicaleventssuch as volcanic
ashdeposition,but the contributionsof the teamswith
EricksonandKolatadiddemonstratethe currentrele-
vanceof the system.
Raised fields are of coursenot the whole story of
farming technology in the Andes; irrigation and
terracingsystemswere complementaryto the raised
fields,and in the LakeTiticacazone were adjacentto
them, on the immediatelyhigher ground (Donkinn
1979: 121).Greatersecurityof productionin the face
of variableclimaticconditionsand diversityof farm
productsnwould have been obtainedby combining
cropsfromterraceson the slopeswith the raisedfields
on the valleysand plains.Becauseof climaticand soil
conditions,the terracesare likely to produce crops
when the flat lands fail, throughflooding or frost.
Terraces,like raisedfields,have been abandonedin
mostof the PeruvianAndes,thoughtheirexploitation
has remaineda part of sampesino knowledgesystems.
Many thousandsof hectaresof abandonedterraces
occupythe slopelandaroundLakeTiticaca,andwith
energycouldbe restoredto use.
fnurthersvatermanagementsystemshave alsobeen
rediscovered,the qoshafound scattered irregularly
over the plateau.These are artificialregularshaped
ponds,0.1 - 4 hectaresin area,overtwo metresdeep
often linkedup togetherin a systemby canals and
used for altiplanocrops.An area of over 100 square
kilometreswith possibly25000 qochais describedby
Ochoa etal. (19g2) in the Departmentof Puno.Apart
 290 AGRICULTURAI, BASE OF THE PRE-INCAN ANDEAN CIVILIZATIONS

fromwateron themblinsurfacein the valleysat 2000-

3000 metres,tlaerewas a wide range of agroforestry
practicesnosrlost (Moralesetal., 1992)and good use
made of high-levelwater meadows(boJedales) at alti-
tudesabovethe plateauand over4000 metres.

valueof cwops
i\4utwitiozlal Thewsecond aspect of food
resourcesfocused OI1 here concernsthe high nutri-
tionalvalue of crops(-lndtheir specialadaptationto
the altiplano. Attelltion focuses especially on the
pseudo-cereals,plantsnot from the grass familybut
yielding large volumes of cereal-likeseeds. These
speciesincludethosefromthe Chenopodacaeand the
Amaranthacaefamilies. Significantly,the range of
some of the key crops is restrictedto the Central
Andes,and centralwithinthatrangeis LakeTiticaca.
The maps (Figs2 and 3) show the distributionof the
two principalchenopods,anclof aI1edible lupin and
amaranthspecies. Severalspeciesof Arnaranthwere
domesticatedin thc Americas,and in the Andes the
speciesusedwasAma)antXlus caudatus. In Peruknownas
kiwicXla (Fig.2), it growssuccessfullyin relativelypoor
conditionsof soil and brightsunlight,and has a high
proteincontentof 15-18 per cent, includinglysine,a
proteinnormallyonlyobtainablefromanimalprotein
(Sauer, 1995).T oday, it is scarcelyof importancein
the Andes, thoughstill grown as a vegetablegarden
cropby ruralpeople,at altitudesaround3000 metres,
alongsidesuchcropsas maize. ofAriwisha
k-ig.2. Nle distributotl (an?amnth)andtanwi(Illpin)cropsin
Amongstthe chenopods,(Fig.3) quinoa(C/lenopodium Alldean Amerisa
are both
quinua) and kanihua(Chenopodium. palli.dicauli)
of importancc.These also have a very high protein
content, 14-18 per cent (Galwey,1995),and are high are the first and most varied records(Sauer, 1995;
in the essentialamino acids;these include such ele- Galwey, 1995). It seems reasonableto supposethat
mentsas lysineand methionine,cystine,treonineand they were extensivelyused in the Tiwanaku area.
alaninc (LescanoRivero, 1994: 417). Their calorific Accordingto Browman(1984), they were domesti-
value is also high because of a strorlgfat content, cated,alongwithbeans,lupins,potatoesandthe tuber
though they cannnot be used to make bread like group,in Tiwanakuby 1000BC. The chenopodsand
wheat becauseof a lack of gluten.As with the ama- amaranthsdo not exhaust the list of useful plants
ranths,these crops have been reduced to a limited which have declinedin use in the Andes. A form of
area,and are grownin smallpeasantfarmsand back lupin,Lupinus mutabilis, or taazsi in quechua,(Fig.2) has
gardens.They are often clrefound on poor soils in a differentkind of role, being a legume which can
marginalareas,such as the flat lands with thin soils enrichsoilsor preventtheirdegenerationundernitro-
and frostexposureon the open altiplano,the pampa, gen-using crops such as maize. This plant also
which they toleratewell. Given the survivalin such containsalkaloidsthat repel insects,and can take up
poor conditionsof this crop, its extensiononto better phosphorus under conditions where other plants
soilsmightshowa highproductivity.Kanihua,in par- cannotdo so. It has a high proteincontent,of 46-48
ticular,is usedas a grainand foddercropfor animals, per cent, along with high oil content,comparableto
at altitudesover 4000 metres,whereothercropscan- soyabeans.
not survive.This crop startsto grow at:temperatures Apartfromquality,quantityof food was an essen-
of-3°C, as opposedto requirementsof around6°C tialingredientforsupportof a densepopulation.It has
formostmiddle-latitudecrops(Sattaur,1988a).Some long been known that the variousspecies of potato
varietiesof quinoaaresimilarlyfrostresistantand able (Sauer,1949)wouldprovidethis,alongwiththe other
to begin growth at or near freezingpoint (Lescano tubers.Potatoesare so prolificthat CarlSauerposited
Rivero, 1994).This is a vitalcharacteristicin the frost- the ideathatthe othertubers,smallerand lessappetiz-
pronehighlands. ing- the oca, anu, ulluco -- must have been earlier
Both the amaranthsand chenopodsseem to have domestications,largelyreplacedlater by the potato,
been domesticatedin the southernAndes,wherethere becausethey could never have competedif they had
 AGRICULTURAL BASE OF THE PRE-INCANANDEAN CIVII,I%ATIONS
291
Anotherexampleis quinoa,a cropwhichis grosvnfrom
Colombiansierrasas farsouthas centralChile.Forthis
crop thereare also botanicand phenologicaladapta-
tionswhichallowit to growunderwidelyvaryingcon-
ditions,frominter-andeanvalleys,to altiplano,to salt
flatsand to sea level,makingfor fourmajorgroupsof
quinoacrop(I,escanoRivero,1994:90).
The role of the animalpopulationshouldnot be
discounted.Herding,in thispartof the world,is likely
to have anticipatedagriculture,and domesticationof
the camelids,both llamaand alpaca,is datedto 7000
BC (Browman,1984).In thc earlycenturies,the herds
are likelyto have been used for their meat, but with
later developmentof civilizationand of agriculture,
they became more valued for their wool and for
transport.On the other hand, tlle herds cannot be
advancedas in any way centralto the sursrival of the
populationof the altiplano.Ill associationwith the
raisedfields,a substantialproteincontentis likelyto
have been obtainedfromduckalld fish in the ditches
(Bouysse-Cassagne,1992). Even today, small ponds
and ditcheson the pampasattractlarge numbersof
wildduckand otherbirds.
T71efood lesource
It is now clear that a largepopulationcould be sup-
portedon the Titicacaaltiplanowith local food sup-
pliesof good qualityand quantity.If we acceptcurrent
Fig.3. Thedistribution
ofkanihua
andquinoainAndean
America ideas about the size of the city of Tiwanaku,about
100000, and add in furtherurbanpopulationsin the
basin area of perllaps30 000, plus a dispersedrural
been discoveredlater. But this ignores the value of population of about 250 000 (Kolata, 1993: 205;
diversification, and the greatproteinvalueof the other Sangines,1995),there is no shortageof food to sup-
tubers.Tuberssuitedto the high altiplanootherthan port this humangroup.Kolatauses conservativeesti-
potatoincludeollucu(Ollucus tuberosum).This cropalso mates of the land availablefor raisedfields,at about
has a proteirlcontent,at 10-15 per cent, muchhigher 19000 hectares,a mirlimumlDasedOllthe areawhere
than the 2 per cent level of potatoes,and must have therearcvisiblcremains,and calculatesthe totalcrop
been a valuable protein addition to ancient diets. from this area based on 75 per CCIlt use, and double
Mashua,anu, or isano (Ti^oWaeolum tuberosuZ1)is resis- croppingof the land. A furtherassumptionis that
tantto frostand continuesgrOWillg downto 0°C. 1460 caloriesare neededto supporteach personand
that each kilogramof potatoessupplies1000calories.
Additionalfeatures This impliesa necd for 533 kiloX,rammes per person
There are of courseother aspectsto the story,which per anllum, of potatoes(asXsurning this to be the sole
cannot all be detailedhere. One is the remarkable crop).A cloublc.crop evcry yeblris thoug-ht- likelyby
diversityof the geneticbankpresentin the traditional Kolata, giVC'll thc CXtl a WatCl and tempcr ature control
crops.To takeonly the potato,Solanum tuberosum,over (Kolata,1993:901)andis usedin hiscalculatioll.
5000 varietiesare knownin Peru,and this presentsa This gives CllOUgh foocl, in calorifieterms, for a
depth of variationallowingfor adjustmentto a widc populationof het\N'eell 5)70 000 alld 1 11l 5()()people,
range of climatic and soil con(litions.Beyond this depellelil-lg OllX;hetlwe
r we u.setlle clat.lforyieldsfi-om
species,Andeanpopulationsalso grow severalspccies the PcruvianOl the Boliviansidc of th( lake.NeitheI
of bitterpotatoes,adaptedto the highrangeof altitudes of these figures was approa(lleclby the calculated
from3800 to 4600 metres(LescanoRivero, 1994).Of populationof 380000 at the peakof Tiwanakutimes.
these,the majoronesareS(vlanum jazetccuki,S. curtilobum,If it is allowedthat irl fact mally raisedfieldsexisted
and S. ayanhuiri.These cropsare able to utili7efullythe outsidethe areawheretiley can stillbe detected,then
high,flataltiplanolandswiththeirgreaterfrostllability the productionpotential grows much further,and
than the lower adjacentslopes,as svellas the higher there is stillless difficultyill accountirlgfor a si%eable
mountainslopesbeyondthe reachof the 'swect'potato, urban population,fecl from rural suzluses in the
and indeed, beyond the reach of any other crop. Titicacabasin.
292 AGRICULTURAL ANDEANCMUZATIONS
BASEOFTHEPRE-INCAN
It would also be necessary to have a system for
transport and storage of the products, particularly if
urban centres of some size and at a distance are to be
maintained with surplus food supplies. iIere the infor-
mation is less complete, and instead, the evidence
from the Inca period may be projected backwards to
infer that a large bureaucracy was usedJ in conjunc-
tion with an underlying strong communal organiza-
tion and a form of labour tax or labour coercion, to
provide mass labour for transportand storage (Kolata,
1993: 19s92). There are in fact also physical evi-
dences, including large causeways whose function
must have been for the transport of goods, in the area
around the city of Tiwanaku.
oflosttechnology
Themyste7y
Some of the knowledge was probably lost centuries
before the advent of the Spanish, in the interval
between 1100 AD and 1450, when the whole state of
Tiwanaku collapsed.
There are two lines of argument taken on what hap-
pened. Garaycochea etal. (1992) argue that social and
political breakdown caused the demise of the raised
field system. This is because of the timing of field build-
ing and abandonment. On the Bolivian side, near the
centre of Tiwanaku state, the main period of raisedfield
development is F1000 AD, coinciding with the period
of Tiwanaku power. On the Peruvian side, there are
periods of expansion, 100s500 BC, and then again
after 1000 AD. These two periods correspond to times
before and after the domination of the Peruvian side by
the Tiwanaku culture. In Peru, it would seem, raised
fields were built when the region was independent of
Tiwanaku. When disorder and political collapse hap-
pened again with the Inca arrival a century before the
Europeans,the fieldswere again abandoned.
Kolata (1993) takes an alternative line, using evi-
dence to show there were major climatic shifts. The
possibility of such climatic shifts is now more fully
understood; following recent massive El Nino events.
Basic data are those obtained from the ice cores, taken
from the Quelccaya glacier in Southern Peru, located
in the Cordillera Blanca, north-west of Lake Titicaca.
These show a major drought over the period
1245-1310. They also provide keys to the main raised
field construction periods, because of dust trapped in
the ice peaks at around 600 AD and 920 AD
Whompson et al., 1988). These data combine with a
warmer period over 1000-1400 AD. The ice coring
results correlate well with those from limnological
studies at the lake, showing a higher level for the lake
at about 500 AD, and lowering of lake levels there-
after, consistent with a major long-term drought
(Binfordand Brenner, 1989). About 1100 AD or a lit-
tle earlier, the whole southern altiplano was affected
by a major long-term drought, which probably elimi-
nated the elaborate farming system, and along with it,
the power of the Tiwanaku state.
It is possibleto combinehere the physicalchanges
detailedby Kolata and the socio-economicchanges
impliedin Garaycochea'sexplanationsof the disap-
pearanceof raisedfields.Increaseddroughtmusthave
made it more difficultto managethe raisedfield sys-
tem, and made them less productive.At the same
time, the droughtsweakenedthe Tiwanakustateand
the strong social structurewhich administeredthe
systemand eventuallyalloweda new power, that of
the Incas, to take over. To this combinationwe can
add another importantpoint. For the Inca people,
whosehomewas in Cuzco,the raisedfieldtechnology
was less appropriatebecause their diurnaltempera-
turerangeis less and the severeconditionsof the alti-
plano are not found.They thus failedto understand
the raisedfieldsystemand did not reviveit. The same
lack of understandingapplies to the later Spanish
invaders.The whole is scarcelya case of physical
determinism,but an interweavingof physicalchanges
and human organization,over a period of several
centuries.
Conclusions, andapplied
academic
Individually,none of these findingsis revolutionary,
nor enough to form an opinion about the food
resource of the Andean civilizations.Collectively,
however, they constitute an important basis for
rethinkingthe resourcebase of thesecivilizations.We
mustrememberthatthe understanding of the sukakol-
lusor waruwaruhas been delayedor distortedby our
understandingof the role of raised fields in other
areas, where irrigationor drainage are dominant
roles.Proteincontentof vegetablefoodshas alsobeen
littleunderstoodin Western,European-based civiliza-
tions, where proteinhas alwaysbeen predominanjdy
from animal sources.Another factor hinderingan
appreciationof the ancient foods and the ancient
technologies,is that some of them were dismissed,or
activelydiscouraged,by the Spanishinvadersof the
sixteenthcentury.Amaranths,for example,wereseen
to be used in religiousceremoniesand their use dis-
couraged,both in Mexicoand in the Andes.Forwant
of understandingof the role of the raisedfields,these
were abandonedby the Spanishwhose home experi-
ence was in termsof irrigationand for whom these
structureswereirrelevant.It maybe addedthatin any
case, the massive loss of populationas a result of
European diseases such as measles and smallpox
meantthatthe densepopulationneededformanaging
an intensive farming system was no longer to be
found.
This paperdoes challenge,or at least seekto mod-
ify, the acceptedwisdomaboutthe use of resourcesin
the CentralAndes.John Murra'sargumentson the
use of a wide varietyof ecologicalniches have been
satisfactorilydemonstratedto have validity from
historicaland archaeologicalsources. However, in
explaining the rise of major civilizationson the
 AGRICULTURAL
BASEOFTHEPRE-INCAN
ANDEANCIVILIZATIONS
altiplano,dependenceon a varietyof resourcesfrom
differentaltitudesis inadequateand the argument
must be that a major food resourcewas present,in
place, on the altiplano.This resourceis only now
beginningto be appreciated.
Currentapplication
There is a postscriptto the historicand prehistoric
findings,since the experimentswith the old technol-
ogy and specieshave proventheirvalue and may be
used to encourageruraldevelopmentin the poorest
regionsof Peru and Bolivia. This will depend on a
revisionof nationalpriorities,with attentionto land
tenure, education, the provision of infrastructure,
pricingsystemsand markets,which will allow small
farmersthemselvesto reappraisethe prehistoricsys-
tems.It mightalsobe the casethatit is sociallyimpos-
sibleto reinstatethe raisedfields,becauseof the need
for a denser ruralpopulation,strictlycontrolledby
centralpower,and involvedin continuoushardwork
to build and maintainthe field systems,as in ancient
times.
There is in fact a majoreffortbeing made to rein-
troducethe raisedfieldtechnologythroughthe PIWA,
a specialprojectof the Lake Titicaca Management
Projectmentionedearlier.Severalhundredhectares
of raisedfieldshavebeen createdon the flatlandsnear
the lake,in an effortto stimulatewidespreadadoption
of the technology.This movementhas become more
sophisticatedwith time, and has now been broadened
to include the rotationof crops on the raisedfields,
startingwithpotatoesand movingthroughcropssuch
as quinoa and barley,to beans and to rest periods.
The relativevalue of the differentaltiplanocrops in
conjunctionwith waru waru systemshas been given
some tests, both under laboratoryconditionsand in
the trialcommunitieswhichhave seen reintroduction
of the system(Berastain,1992b).Productionof feed
crops such as alfalfaand feed barley has also been
broughtin, acknowledging the importanceof livestock
in the local, small-farmingsystems. PIWA is also
responsiblefor makingan exhaustivesurveyof areas
suitablefor waru waru (Berastain,1992a),showingthat
a hugeareaof over 100000 hectareswouldbe suitable
for inclusioninto raisedfield systems.Furtherstudies
haveidentifiedthoseareaswhichcouldbe considered
as priorityareasfor the reintroductionnow contem-
plated(Berastain,1994).Considerationhas also been
givento the socialstructureof the areaswhereraised
fieldsmight be reintroduced,and how the waru waru
managementmightfit in with the rest of the agricul-
turalyear and with labourorganizationof farmfami-
lies and communities(Mamani, 1993). Beyond the
raisedfields,PIWAhas also becomeinterestedin the
recoveryof terracesystems,of the qochapondsand of
irrigationsystemswhich might combine with other
hydrologicalsystems (Berastain, 1996). One area
whichdoes not appearto have been properlyconsid-
293
ered, is the use of machineryin place of hand labour
to buildthe raisedfields.Thiswouldbe a majordiffer-
ence in conditionswhich might affectthe viabilityof
reintroduction. There are heavylabourcosts to hand
rebuilding,andit is not apparentyet thatordinarytrac-
tors wouldbe able to replacethis work;the material
piled into the raisedplatformsmust not includethe
heavyalkalinematerialbelowthe soil,whicha machine
mightinclude.Also,fromyearto year,theancientprac-
ticeis likelyto havebeena processof constantspooning
of the finematerialsout of ditchesand onto platforms;
thismightprovedifficultformodernmachines.
All the evidenceof a positivemove to reintroduc-
tion also leavesasidesome importantproblemsrelat-
ing to initiativeand sustainability.
Whatis not evident
in regardto raisedfieldsand ancientcropsis a move-
ment from the 'grassroots',led by local people and
administeredby them, to reintroducethe ancient
technology.Fieldresearchdone by thisauthormaybe
cited to exemplifythis problem.In 1997, visitswere
paidto someof the firstraisedfieldexperimentssetup
in the early 1980s aroundHuatta,Peru, near to the
Peruviantown ofJuliaca.When visitedin 1997, and
againin early 1998when they shouldhave been fully
cultivated,these fieldswere almost abandoned,and
therewere no plansfor rapidre-use.It is possibleto
speculateaboutthe reasonsforthis.
The peasantfarmersthemselves(representatives of
fourof the five areasset up nearHuattain the 1980s)
wereinterviewed;theysaidin everycasethatthe fields
were resting,and that theirfertilitywas now too low.
This is a possiblecause of abandonmentand decline
elsewherewhich is being addressedby the PIWA
workers,to find a suitablerotationable to maintain
the land in use. On the matterof labour,whichmight
be regardedas an obviousproblemfor majorearth-
works,local people were insistentthat no problem
existed. Certainly, a considerablenumber of un-
employed,or underemployedlabourersexistsin the
region. There is, however,the matterof labour or-
ganization.In the late 1960s, much land was put
into collectives.This agrarianreformexperimentwas
reversedin the 1990s and private land ownership
encouraged.This maybe the beststructurelong term,
but in the interimthereare majorconflictsoverland
rightsaroundHuatta.Somefarmerssupportthe com-
munityor collectiveholdingof landwhileotherswish
for completeprivatization.Sheep herdersand cattle
owners,for example,are keen to retain community
land,becausetheyhavegrazedtheiranimalsformany
yearson suchlandandmaynot own any of theirown.
Privateowners,on the otherhand,are anxiousto get
rid of the livestockfarmers,becausetheywanderover
the open, fencelesspampas and their animalsmay
destroyany cropsplantedon raisedfields.This was in
fact a problemobservedat the raisedfieldsnear the
town, in 1998, and any attemptat a full-scalerestitu-
tion of this system,at the presenttime,wouldrequire
294 AGRICULTURAL
BASEOFTHEPRE-INCAN
ANDEANCIVILIZATIONS

restrictionof herdersand enclosingof raised fields
withfencing.Otherconflictsoccuroverthe ownership
of specificplotsandoverthe allocationof the bestland
to someof thelocalauthoritiesin the town.
For these kinds of reason) visions of a revived
ancientcultivationsystemare stillidealistic.The base
conditions, the context of agriculturewithin the
nationaleconomy,the socialstructureof ruralareas,
haveundergonemassivechangesin irreversibledirec-
tions.One suchchangeis the move towardsan urban
economy, where town life dominates and town
employmentis the ideal. In this socio-economicset-
ting,the ruralareais a backwater,withpoorwagesfor
unskilledlabourand no opportunityfor growthand
prosperity.Sucha viewwillchange,but the transition
now takingplace is stillmigrationout of the country-
side and into the town, and this will continuefor the
foreseeablefuture. Sustainabledevelopmentinitia-
tivesin the countrysidewill dependon a considerable
change in thinkingabout the relative status of the
ruralsector and the relativeneed to conserverural
peopleandtheirlivelihoods.

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