Deconstructing the Inca: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Empire in the Andes

British Academy Conferences bring together scholars from around the world to present, discuss and consolidate new research in the humanities and social sciences.

When Europeans first ventured into the Andes in the 1500s, they found the Inca empire in the throes of a civil war. The ensuing "Inca apocalypse" transformed lives throughout the continent as the Spanish empire laid the foundations for modern dependency relationships in Latin America.

To deconstruct this violent, rapid, and deeply transformative cultural interaction, this conference takes an Andes-wide approach, highlighting two very different ways of building empire, first by the Inca and then the Spanish. We will leverages new perspectives and data from archaeological excavations, early Spanish documents, expansions of indigenous languages, DNA, isotope studies, bioarchaeological details of human remains, and radiocarbon dating.

This multidisciplinary approach is key to understanding local–imperial interactions, migrations, chronologies, and conflicts, presented by a new generation of diverse scholars who argue for major changes to the established view of the rise and fall of the Inca.

Conference convenors

• Frank Meddens, University of Reading
• Kevin Lane, University of Buenos Aires
• Erik Marsh, National University of Cuyo

Speakers

• Sonia Alconini, University of Virginia
• Elizabeth Arkush, University of Pittsburgh
• Jacob Bongers, University of Sydney
• Nick Branch, University of Reading
• Sofia Chacaltana-Cortez, Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya
• Jon Clindaniel, University of Chicago
• Lars Fehren-Schmitz, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Amandine Flammang, Université libre de Bruxelles
• Francisco Garrido, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural
• Frances Hayashida, University of New Mexico
• Paul Heggarty, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima
• Francisco Javier Hernandez Astete, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Kevin Lane, University of Buenos Aires
• Erik Marsh, National University of Cuyo
• Frank Meddens, University of Reading
• Karoline Noack, University of Bonn
• Kerstin Nowack, independent scholar
• Martti Pärssinen, University of Helsinki
• Dominika Sieczkowska, University of Warsaw
• Mariusz Ziółkowski, University of Warsaw

Further information

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