Direct Access

Direct household procurement of goods is largely structured by the geographic relationships between consumer residence and a given resource. Access to products from complementary ecological zones by consumers who undertake a personal voyage to acquire and gather those goods is a form of direct access. For resources that are widely distributed in ecological areas or along altitudinal bands, direct access is a recurring theme in Andean prehistory. The procurement of unique or unevenly distributed or resources, such as salt or obsidian, is a different configuration entirely in a vertically organized region like the Andes, because distant consumers are forced to articulate with production areas far beyond their immediate and complementary neighbors in an altitudinally stratified exchange relationship. This kind of multiethnic, direct household procurement for salt occurs in the Andes to this day (Concha Contreras 1975: 74-76;Flores Ochoa 1994: 125-127;Oberem 1985 [1974];Varese 2002).

Direct access by foragers was the first mode of procurement in the Andes, and this acquisition mode probably dominated in Early Holocene prior to the population growth that permitted the development of reciprocity networks. The procurement of raw materials in a manner that is incidental to other subsistence activities is a more efficient means of acquiring these goods, an activity described as "embedded procurement" by Binford (1979: 279). Communities, ethnic groups, and even prehistoric states appear to have maintained direct access to resources in other zones, and (as is stipulated by the definition of the direct accessmode) this kind of articulation is for direct consumption or redistribution on the level of the corporate or state entity. This is part of a much celebrated pattern in Andean research, a feature known as vertical complementary (Murra 1972), a topic that will be returned to in more detail below. Direct access by states to unusual sources of raw material such as metals and minerals are well documented in the Andes. These include as Inka mine works, and distinctive Inka artifacts and architecture are commonly encountered in association with the procurement areas. In access between herding and agricultural sectors, there is also an ethnographically documented direct access mode described as "ethnic economies". In this direct access mode, ethnic groups will control parallel strips of vertical land holdings, and sometimes non-contiguous tracts, ranging from lower agricultural zones to high puna that may lie several thousand vertical meters above. This pattern is documented on the eastern slope of the Andes for the Q'eros of Cuzco (Brush 1976;Flores Ochoa, et al. 1994) and several communities in northern Potosí in Bolivia (Harris 1982;Harris 1985). The important concept of the direct access organization is that entities that were consuming the goods were directly responsible for acquiring them. If there is inter-household barter or transfer of any kind, then the arrangement likely belongs to a type of reciprocity relationship.

Reciprocity

The institution of reciprocity is important in all societies, and in the contemporary Andes reciprocal relationships are elaborate and permeate village life. It is an arrangement for the transfer of labor or goods that is organized without coercive authority between entities equal in status, although sometimes disputes are settled by community leaders. Andean labor reciprocity includes agricultural work, roof raising, canal cleaning, terrace building, and other services; as such, reciprocity structures the traditional village economy in the Andes (Alberti and Mayer 1974;Stanish 2003: 67). These kinds of reciprocal arrangements are frequently delayed, although compensation can be accelerated through recompense in products. For example, a herder might bring a caravan down to a farming area in the lower valleys and spend some days contributing labor to the agricultural harvest in exchange for some portion of the yield.

In many premodern economic transactions relationships of balanced reciprocity structured these arrangements. Two forms are likely in the Andes, that include (1) a multitude of small, household exchanges creating "down-the-line" artifact distributions (see Figure 2-2), presumably this type of exchange is responsible for the long distance transmission of small, portable goods for much of the pre-ceramic period. A second form consists of (2) barter exchange relationships with regular long distance caravans that articulated with settlements, and perhaps at periodic fairs, that transported goods over potentially greater distances. This mode would effectively consist of unadministered trade. The institution of reciprocity will be explored in more specific contexts below.

Redistribution

The basis of relations between political elites and non-elites in the prehispanic Andes was shaped by redistribution. In Andes during the later prehispanic period, redistributive mechanisms linked elites to non-elites through the redistribution of consumables like coca, and feasts of food and chichabeer in exchange for labor and political support. "The manipulation of redistributive economic relationships among the elite and their retainers, most notably of exotic goods and commodities, stands at the core of the development of Prehispanic Andean complex societies" (Stanish 2003: 68). Often these surplus goods were produced through efficient mechanisms orchestrated by elites, and the benefits and prestige derived from these surpluses would be accrued disproportionately by political leaders.

The central collection of goods for redistribution or use by the state includes taxation which, in the Inka period, was through mit'alabor. With respect to the exchange of lithic raw materials, Giesso (2003) argues that at Tiwanaku household stone tool production was a form of taxation. Giesso cites ethnohistoric evidence referencing the Inka period and argues that the household knapping of projectile points could have contributed to the provisioning of the state armory. The means by which non-local material arrived in the Tiwanaku homeland is unclear, but in the Inka case the raw material was acquired locally or it was provided by the state (Giesso 2003: 377). Earle (1977: 215) argues that redistributionshould be considered as two major groups with leveling mechanisms on one side and complex institutional mechanisms for wealth accumulation on the other (see Section 2.2.4).

Administered Trade

Non-market administered trade was another major means of transfer in the prehispanic south-central Andes. Building on Polanyi's classic definition of non-capitalist economic types, Charles Stanish (2003: 69) describes a form of elite-administered, non-market trade that was capable of procuring non-local goods and that provided wealth to elites as follows. Garci Diez's Titicaca Basin visita, a 16^thcentury Spanish census document (Diez de San Miguel 1964 [1567]), describes how local elites in the Lake Titicaca Basin would have their constituents organize llama caravans for trading expeditions to adjacent regions. In neighboring areas such as the Amazon basin to the east, the Cusco valley, and western slope valleys, agricultural goods such as corn, fruits, and other products were sweeter, faster growing, and more abundant than in the Titicaca Basin. The colonial visitaindicates that, based on the colonial currency, corn in the Titicaca Basin was worth 5.7 to 6.9 times the amount that it was worth in the Sama valley (an area in modern-day southern Bolivia) where it was abundant. Stanish (2003: 69-70) argues that administered trade benefited elites because they were able to appropriate this difference in value, and through feasting and other ceremonial functions, a portion of this wealth was redistributed to commoners. It is important to mention that these same colonial sources indicate that the commoners also organized trading ventures and would take advantage of these elite-organized journeys to conduct private barter exchange on the side. With reference to herders conscripted into elite orchestrated trade caravans "those in Lupaca country 'who had their own cattle [cargo llamas]' (Diez de San Miguel 1964 [1567], f. 13v) went to the coast and to the lomas to barter on their own. …the maize growers on the irrigated coast were eager for the highlander's animals, their wool and meat" (Murra 1965: 201). Thus, elites organized large caravans and apparently possessed the surplus wealth and the camelid caravan animals in advance to initiate the trading expedition, but the herders that they conscripted also engaged in household-level barter. For the elites, their organizational efforts earned them significant wealth and status for a relatively modest outlay of costs. For the herders, it appears that they were able to embed household economic transactions with their mit'alabor service by conducting their side barter activities. Apparently, even the powerful Lupaca elite had to concede some independent trade activity to their caravan drivers. What, then, of the relationship between caravanerosand elites during earlier periods, when elites probably had less consolidated power than during the contact period?

The evidence suggests that "administered trade" was not the first form of long distance caravan exchange. As mentioned above, relationships of balanced reciprocity have long served to articulate herders with those living in complementary ecozones such as sierra agriculturalists, coastal fishers, and residents of the eastern lowlands. But the long distance transport of diffusive goods like obsidian are well-demonstrated and form a continuous network configuration that contrasts with the segmentary, vertically organized exchange between valley and puna (Figure 2-3). Archaeological distributions (Browman 1981;Burger, et al. 2000;Dillehay and Nuñez 1988;Nuñez and Dillehay 1995 [1979]) and contemporary ethnoarchaeological studies (Lecoq 1988;Nielsen 2000;West 1981) attest to the capacity for small scale, household-level organization of multi-week caravan expeditions. This evidence suggests that there were probably at least two major types of long distance caravans operating from the Late Formative onwards. The question then becomes: what was the relationship between household-level caravans and elite-administered trade? Did elites co-opt functions that were previously coordinated on the household level? If elites acquired control of some segment of caravan traffic, what strategies did elites use to wrest control from caravan drivers that, the evidence suggests, were very independently-minded people (Browman 1990: 419-420;Nielsen 2000: 517-520)? These questions concerning the origins and configurations of regional interaction in the south-central Andes are at the center of this discussion of changes in obsidian procurement and the regional circulation of goods in prehistory on the perimeter of the Lake Titicaca Basin.

Vertical complementarity

The contrasting ecological zonation found in low-latitude mountain regions worldwide has resulted in distinctive social configurations that appear to reduce risk, broaden the selection of products available in a given zone, and provide opportunities for strategic advancement by particular individuals or groups. These configurations have been investigated in two broad sets by Andeanists. First, there are a number of scholars who address vertical complementarity as a general process that is comparable with other mountain regions of the world. Second, there is a particular configuration known as "Vertical archipelagos" first described by John Murra (1972) that has been widely discussed in the Andean literature.

Horizontal complementarity

Soon after Murra published his 1972 paper about vertical complementarity, researchers began noting that vertical complementarity is only one of a number of strategies employed in the Andes. A different kind of geographical interaction pattern, one that stays within broad regions such as the altiplano or the littoral, has been called horizontal complementarity. Contrasted with Murra's vertical complementarity model, in horizontal complementarity polities would directly control many parcels in a given niche. Here, the adaptationalist argument is somewhat less obvious since a horizontal complementarity strategy seems redundant unless particular resources were only available in one sector of a given horizontal territory. This phenomenon could reflect a cultural mechanism for the continued social integration of communities distributed widely across a vast region. An analogous situation can be observed in the culturally-constructed Yanamamö trade for ceramic wares, maintained to provide a social catalyst for villages to come together for feasting and marriage-making, despite the risk of conflict and treachery (Chagnon 1968).

Relations of horizontal complementarity between coastal valleys have been observed on the littoral (Netherly 1977;Rostworowski 1977;Shimada 1982), and for the higher altitude altiplano area where this kind of organization is referred to as the "altiplano mode of economic integration" (Browman 1977) and, to a lesser extent, the modern "extended type of Andean zonation" (Brush 1977: 12-16;Gade 1975). The extended type takes place in regions of expansive, contiguous production where exchange forms the basis for circulating products from other zones. In the expansive altiplano where there are fewer impediments to travel and, with the domestication of camelids, relatively low transport costs with cargo animals, materials may have been conveyed over substantial distances.

Figure 3-4. Subsistence exchange for products by ecozone versus single-source, diffusive goods.

A general schematic of these contrasting relationships is shown in Figure 3-4. While there is a great deal more complexity and variability to economy and exchange than is communicated in Figure 3-4, for example tubers are grown in the high elevation zones and herding does occur below 3800 masl, the purpose is to highlight the contrasting network characteristics. These two characteristics include

(1) Subsistence exchange.The acquisition of products available by zone contrasts

(2) Diffusive.The network for goods that radiate diffusively, such as obsidian and salt.

While the mixed agropastoral strategies are also very common, particularly in ecotone areas such as the puna rim, the subsistence exchange that articulates dedicated pastoralists with agriculturalists has been documented ethnographically in many studies of which only a selection are shown in Figure 3-4 (Bastien 1978;Brush 1977;Custred 1973;Flores Ochoa 1968;Palacios Ríos 1981;Winterhalder and Thomas 1978).

Ecological complementary has long served to transfer goods between ecozones, however the movement of goods laterally through areas of homogeneous resources, such as horizontal complementarity across the puna, implies other mechanisms of transfer. In addition to strategies described previously, it has been proposed that large periodic markets are a possible solution to the problems of social and economic integration among agropastoralists living in widely distributed settlements.

Browman (1990: 405-411) reviews the evidence for prehispanic and colonial period markets in the Peruvian and Bolivian altiplano. The colonial period aggregations in the Andes are products of historical circumstances, however Browman's evidence suggests that periodic fairs in some form were a feature of the prehispanic economy. While evidence concerning the actual goods exchanged at periodic fairs during the prehispanic period is scarce, these events could have been an effective way for obsidian to have been distributed in highland Peru and these fairs will be discussed in more detail below. Seasonal or annual gatherings are also ethnographically known among foragers in arid regions of the world with low population densities (Birdsell 1970: 120;Steward 1938). Social aggregations in some form can be expected to date back to the foraging period and these aggregations probably included, among other activities, the exchange of goods.

Evidence for barter, markets, and marketplaces in theAndes

"They did not sell… nor did they buy… they thought it was a needless operation" and all universally planted what they needed to support their households and thus did not have to sell foodstuffs, nor raise prices nor did they know what high prices were…(Garcilaso 1960 [1609]: 153; cited in Murra 1980: 142).

Was obsidian exchanged through a market system reflecting supply and demand in the prehispanic Andes? Were exchange specialists present in the prehispanic Andean highlands? If so, when did they appear and what did they transport? While extensive exchange has been documented in the prehispanic Andes, it is widely believed by Andeanists that exchange in the prehispanic central Andes was not based on market institutions. Building on the typology developed in Chapter 2 following Renfrew(1975)and Salomon(1985), differing degrees of specialization and independence can be expected to have existed among actors in exchange relationships (Figure 2-2andFigure 3-3). If specialized traders were present in prehispanic Andes, how did they interface with state authority during the Middle Horizon and Late Horizon, and what was their position during periods of regional conflict like the Late Intermediate Period?

Much of the evidence supporting the alleged lack of market-based exchange is derived from studies of Inka economic organization, where ethnohistorical accounts and archaeological datasets converge. A great deal has been written on the topic of Inka economy, and obsidian exchange was relatively diminished during this period, therefore this discussion will be limited to a few relevant issues regard exchange specialization. Several of the sixteenth century chroniclers are clear that while barter was widespread, the barter values of goods did not reflect fluctuations in supply and demand as in a market economy. However, the lack of consensus on the issue of markets and commerce during the Inka period stems from inconsistency in the cronistasthemselves. As reviewed by Murra(1980: 139-152)and LaLone(1982)the denial of a market exchange by Garcilaso de la Vega (quoted above) can be contrasted with numerous accounts of large and small markets, and a long tradition of barter exchange of various types.

The issue of Late Horizon marketplaces and market exchange is explored here because one of the principal questions that may be considered with changing obsidian distributions through time is the possible role of commercialism in prehispanic Andean exchange. The appearance of exchange specialists, such as freelance caravans moving certain commodities and responding to the changes in barter values that result from surpluses and shortages, would have presented a mode of transport distinctive from that of local reciprocal exchange or regional or state redistribution.

The vertical archipelago model functioned as an alternative to trade for goods from neighboring areas because "regional differences in production were, by preference, handled by means of colonization instead of through barter or trade."(Murra 1965: 201). As mentioned, Stanish argues that Murra initially excluded exchange mechanisms because of a perceived association between exchange and market economies. Further it can be argued, building on Appadurai(1986: 33), that in certain contexts of ranked or stratified societies with elaborate redistribution mechanisms, market systems of exchange represent a threat to the centralized ideological power of redistribution. "There is great advantage to leaders who are able to portray their resource-control strategies as reciprocity, redistribution, and generosity. Non-centralized resource-control strategies are, by definition, not 'control' strategies"(LaLone 1982: 296). If centralization is a principal determinant of state control on market exchange, were the peripheries involved in greater numbers of barter transactions?

Limitations of ethnohistory and ethnography

Ancient economy in the Andes has been most fruitfully studied by combining archaeological evidence with ethnohistoric and contemporary sources. General models of great importance to Andean studies such as vertical complementarity, the question of the commerce in the prehispanic economy, and a structure of dual organization in the Inka administration are examples of models emerging from ethnohistoric sources but with empirical support from archaeological research. Ethnohistorically based models also have their limitations in that they can unduly influence interpretation much in the way that the "tyranny of ethnography"(Wobst 1978)should not necessarily define the range of archaeological possibility and inference. Ethnographic sources are valuable for the evidence of pastoral patterns, the priorities of caravan drivers, and the articulation between mixed and specialized pastoral and agricultural practices. However, modern features including the presence of the cash economy, markets, truckers plying the highways, and various modern job opportunities impact the structure of exchange relationships and caravan transport(Browman 1990;Nielsen 2000).

Ethnographic studies of contemporary llama caravan drivers are focusing, by necessity, on relatively marginalized communities that are sufficiently conservative to continue to herd llamas despite a variety of often more lucrative alternatives (Lecoq 1988;Nielsen 2000). Scholars have noted, however, that caravan drivers enjoyed relatively high status and autonomy in the late prehispanic and early colonial period which contrasts strongly with the economically marginalized modern day caravanero(Murra 1965). Furthermore, herding has become relatively low status in many regions of the contemporary Andes because the economic focus has moved downslope since Spanish contact due to the growth of the coastal economy and the importation of various low altitude crops and livestock. In other words, the prominence of caravan drivers as central economic agents has been greatly diminished in recent centuries, and ethnographically documented interactions with agriculturalists is one circumstance in which this relative shift in power may result in distorted perceptions of prehispanic interaction patterns. The relatively high status accorded to truck drivers and other purveyors of goods and information in contemporary Andean villages was likely to have been ascribed, instead, to the relatively cosmopolitan drivers of llama caravans during prehispanic times.