Mining, Commensal Politics, and Ritual under Inca Rule in Atacama, Northern Chile

Abstract

In this paper we reconsider our previous interpretation on Inca control over the San José del Abra copper mines in northern Chile by evaluating new evidence that comes from recent research into the sociopolitical and ideological dimensions of mining during the Late Period. Our data show that two mining complexes in the study area were directly controlled by the state through diverse means, including (1) the financing of the operations; (2) the spatial concentration of production and the mining community; (3) the materialization and reproduction of sociopolitical differences within the mining community between the state’s representatives and the local workers; (4) the Inca mediation between the miners and the supernatural beings that probably control mining safety and fertility; and (5) the creation of a regional sacred landscape centered around mining and materialized through state symbols and state-controlled practices.