Constructing Pre-Hispanic Heritage: Entanglements between Cultural Policy andArchaeology in the formation of the Republic of Peru as a nation-state (1821-1972)
プレヒスパニック遺産の構築：国民国家としてのペルー共和国の形成における文化政策と考古学の連携（１８２１－１９７２）

URIBE CHINEN Claudia Hatsumi
ウリベ チネン クラウディア ハツミ
1. Introduction

2. Research Framework

This research aims to develop a critical historical analysis(1) Research Backgroundof the Peruvian cultural policies focused on Pre-Hispanic

In Peru, the notion of pre-Hispanic heritage as Cultural

cultural heritage. This heritage comprises cultural

Patrimony of the Nation is a construction that has taken

expressions of Andean Indigenous peoples embodied inplace in its post-colonial history. After the independence

sites, monuments and objects belonging to the periodof Peru in 1821 from the Spanish dominion (1532-1821),

prior to the colonization by the Kingdom of Spain (11,000

and throughout the 19th and 20th century, the StateBCE – 1532 CE). An overarching aim was to identify

developed a legal framework and institutional bodies totranscendental events and contexts in the history of Peru

protect and manage the material culture of pre-Hispanic

where interrelated agents such as the State and scientifictimes as cultural heritage. Alongside, antiquarianism,

experts influenced the protection of the material culture ofscientific explorations and studies progressively increased

the pre-Hispanic past as part of different agendas to create

the knowledge on the pre-Hispanic past and its material

and recreate a sense of national history, community andremains, eventually giving archaeology a leading role.

identity. Underlying these considerations, this study looks

In contemporary Peru, the significance of Pre-Hispanic

to clarifying the politics of preserving this particular typecultural heritage can be perceived by both the legalof heritage due to sociopolitical events characterizing aprotection and the conservation efforts made by the State.

modern post-colonial nation-state in South America.

In the current Peruvian Cultural Heritage Law (Law N°
28296 of 2007) pre-Hispanic heritage is the category withthe highest protection by the State. The vast number of
pre-Hispanic monuments poses challenges for theirprotection and management, but even with limited
resources and capacities, the State deals with long-term
conservation programs for archaeological pre-Hispanic
sites, including those inscribed in the UNESCO World
Heritage List (E.g. Machu Picchu, Chan Chan, Chavín de
Huantar, Nazca).
A diagnosis of the development of a system for theprotection and preservation of pre-Hispanic cultural
heritage can be obtained from the corpus of available
literature of the past two decades based on studies oncultural policies, cultural heritage or archaeological
heritage. Among others, perhaps the most important
coincidence is the centralism of pre-Hispanic heritage,

Figure 1. Map of Peru with the pre-Hispanic archaeological sites

over other types of heritage (namely colonial ormentioned in the document.

republican), in the historical trajectory of the Peruvian

学位論文梗概集 2019

cultural heritage policies.

Since the ‘protectionism’ of pre-Hispanic cultural heritage
activates conflicts on its management in the present, it
was essential to re-think its history with critical reflexive
lens. Therefore, the questions this research aims to answer
are: 1) how did this paradigm become entrenched in the
Peruvian

CulturalPolicy?;

2)

which

historicalcircumstances, agents and factors led to the developmentof a cultural heritage preservation system in Peru?; and 3)
which political agendas guided the protection of cultural
heritage?
The hypothesis this research aims to prove is that thefocus on pre-Hispanic heritage in the cultural policy was
Figure 2. The archaeological complex of Machu Picchu (15thcentury), discovered in 1911, is ‘Cultural Patrimony of the Nation’

not only due to its large amount in the Peruvian territory
but also to the influence of political processes in theand one of the World Heritage properties of Peru from theformation of the Republic of Peru as a nation-state sincepre-Hispanic period conserved with State funds.

1821.

Some recent studies with elaborate discussions on the(3) Theoretical Framework

predominance of specific types of heritage as part ofThis research used the framework of the ‘Politics of theparticular agendas can serve as a basis to understand the

Past’ (Gathercole and Lowenthal, 1989), and theprioritization of the conservation of pre-Hispanic heritage

interrelationin Peru. For some authors, an alliance between the State,nation-building processes (Smith, 2006; Winter, 2012)

museums and archaeologists as exclusive stewards ofmodeled by the conceptions of the ‘invention of tradition

pre-Hispanic cultural heritage historically influenced in(Hobsbawm

their high social valuation. However, the theoreticalcommunities’ (Anderson, 1991). These foundations serve

contextualization provided by the ‘Politics of the Past´

to understand the uses of the past for political purposes by(Gathercole and Lowenthal, 1989), as suggested bymodern societies. This past materialized in expressions

Silverman (2002) when affirming the political utilizationsuch as classical monuments and antiquities, gave senseof pre-Hispanic past for the construction of national

to the notion of ‘heritage’ when societies were compelledidentity, appear to provide the keys to further understandto look for new ways of social cohesion, collective

the case of pre-Hispanic heritage in Peru.

memory

and

of

the

and

heritage

Ranger,identity

phenomenon

1983)

amid

and

with

‘imaginedsocio-politicalandsocio-economic transformations, as those left by the(2) Research Problem

French Revolution, the Enlightenment and the Industrial

The reasons underlying the predominant protection and

Revolution. Nationalism emerged as a product of thesepreservation of pre-Hispanic cultural heritage in Peru

circumstances where the pursuit of unifying cultural

have not been clarified in the available corpus of literaturefeatures because of unprecedented changes was central.

in light of either critical historical approaches or heritage

Special attention was also given to Archaeology and its

studies. A report by the Ministry of Culture of Peru

critical role in the (re) construction of history and(Cultura, 2017) even suggests that the State concentrated

heritage-making in the face of nation-building processes.

efforts to conserve pre-Hispanic remains merely due to

Discussions on the politics of Archaeology (Kohl andtheir magnitude (estimated in 150,000) in the country. It is

Fawcett, 1995), and the interrelation with nationalism,

necessary to connect this problem with theoreticalalso gave tools to interpret the Peruvian case.

approaches related to the uses of the past in the present inFurthermore, it was necessary to guide the assessment oforder to elucidate its causes, interrelated processes andthis study with an awareness on the particular conditions

agents. , and to open venues to interrogate current issues.

when dealing with post-colonial nation-states. The
Summaries of Academic Theses 2019

research questions were reflected in the light of recent

approached the Indigenous past and its materiality anddebates on post-colonial uses of the past in Latin America

produced recordings that increased the trans-Atlantic(Kaltmeier and Rufer, 2017). Heritage making ininterest in the Americas.

post-colonial nation-states often deals with a past that is‘administered’, with archaeology involved in the(2) First Period (1821-1879): Post-colonial nation

production of knowledge and values of the Indigenous

building and Pre-Archaeology

pre-colonial past.

This period covers the first half-century of the history ofPeru as an independent nation-state, beginning with the(4) Methodology

proclamation of the independence in 1821, agreed as the

The present research was framed under a qualitative

dawn of the Republican era, and ending with the entrance

approachhistoricalof Peru in the War of the Pacific in 1879. In the firstcontextualization, in-depth analysis and interpretation of

decades, the emergent nation-state faced the challenge ofthe proposed topic. The historical research consisted ofarticulating its autonomous political and economic system.

two stages: The first was a comprehensive review of theIt was a period of political instability given the presence

currently available literature composed by primary andof diverging political visions among ruling groups and thesecondary sources, and the second was data analysis. The

concentration of power by military leaders, which often

thesis was developed in four chapters.

resulted in experimental forms of government. By 1845,

as

it

aimed

to

provideathe Republican model became consolidated and an era of
3. Historical Development of Cultural Policies

relative economic prosperity started due to the commerce

focused on Pre-Hispanic Cultural Heritageof ‘guano’. For the assessment of the cultural policies,(1) Preamble: The colonial social legacy and firsttwo sub-phases were defined following the historicalapproaches to the pre-Hispanic pastprocesses: First sub-phase (1821-1845) and Second

The Spanish colonial domination (1532-1821) in the

sub-phase (1845-1879).

territory of Peru resulted in the subjugation of Andean

In the first sub-phase, the ideals of Enlightenment about

Indigenous societies, with the latest and largest politicalbuilding a national consciousness and fomenting theexpression represented by the Inca Empire (1438-1533).

culture of citizenship through the study of the past

It began a long process of disarticulation of the local

influenced in the protection of antiquities. The first legal

culture, social relations and practices and the imposition

instruments were developed by the State since 1822

of Western canons. Consequently, the material culture of(Supreme Decree N° 89), enthroning the ownership ofAndean Indigenous peoples, represented by places andancient monuments by the Nation, their intrinsic value

objects, entered a process of progressive abandonment

and the prohibition of extraction of objects from themand too often became a target of systematic lootings by

without authorization. Alongside, the first Nationalthtreasure-hunting practices. By the 16

century, theseMuseum was created in 1826, representing thematerial remains of the pre-Hispanic times became

legitimation of the national history and identity. Peruvian

protected by the colonial legislation as belongings of thenaturalist and mineralogist Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y

Spanish Crown.

Ustáriz, mentored by Prussian scholar Alexander von

The knowledge about the material culture and the

Humboldt in Europe, became the first director andhistorical past prior to the arrival of the Spaniards waspromoted the formation of collections from donations of

mainly reconstructed by either Spanish or ‘mestizo’

antiquities, minerals and natural resources. In 1836, thechroniclers in different stages of the colonial era, as

government reorganized the museum into the Museum of

Indigenous pre-Hispanic societies left no written records.

Natural History in order to elevate its standards to display

Chroniclers recorded testimonies about the history of thethe Peruvian natural history.

Andean world, its culture and traditions. In some cases,

In the second sub-phase, the economic boom fostered thethey also included detailed illustrations. In the lateaspirations of progress and the construction of a sense ofcolonial era, scientific missions from Europe also

national community in the society. These pulses,

学位論文梗概集 2019

alongside with the explorations in the country bysocial ruptures the Peruvian State was not able to solve in

Peruvian and foreign naturalists and scholars interested in

its first half-century as an independent Republic. The

antiquities, motivated the investment by the government

military campaigns of the War of the Pacific across thein the publication of atlases and encyclopedias, where

highlands meant the participation of a significant number

illustrations of the national territory, its natural resourcesof Indigenous populations for a patriotic cause and theirand antiquities of the pre-Hispanic past were utilized tomarginalized condition became visible for the first time.

reaffirm the national history of the young state. Two

The project of reconstructing the nation had to begin withcornerstones were the atlas ‘Antigüedades Peruanas’

the recovery from the political and economic instability(‘Peruvian Antiquities’) (1851) by Mariano Eduardo debut oriented to restore the national consciousness, thisRivero y Ustáriz and Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob vontime with an awareness of the contrasting social andTschudi, and the encyclopedic series of ‘El Perú’ (‘Peru’)cultural realities of the country.

(1874) by Italian naturalist Antonio Raimondi. Rivero andIn this period, the government reinforced the protection of

Tschudi’s publication was the first one concerned with theantiquities due to a general preoccupation for recovering

pre-Hispanic history in the Republican era, and it placed

the national history and counterbalancing the increase of

the Incas as the founders of the nation.

pre-Hispanic collections abroad. In 1893, a decree
prohibited the excavations for obtaining archaeologicalobjects without a license, declared national monuments
all the pre-Hispanic buildings and created the National
Committee for the Conservation of Antiquities. In 1911,
another decree declared that every object found in
excavations belonged to the State, the prohibition ofexportations and the supervision of excavations bygovernment inspectors. This enactment occurred in thesame year as the discovery of Machu Picchu (Cusco) by
American scholar Hiram Bingham.
The museum was also re founded in 1905, following thepatriotic aspirations of reconstructing the country. It

Figure 3. Front cover of ‘Antigüedades Peruanas’ (1851) byimplemented the sections of ‘Archaeology and savage

Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustáriz and Johann Jakob vontribes’ and ‘Colonial and Republican’. Max Uhle, aTschudi.

German archaeologist specialized in Americanist studies
and author of the first archaeological scientific

In 1872, the first civilian government ordered the

excavations in Peru, became the director of the section of

relocation of the National Museum in a building

Archaeology. As Uhle believed in the contributions of theconstructed for an event commemorating the fifty years ofstudy of the past for the progress of modern nation-states,

the independence of Peru. The administration was

he actively contributed with the collections of theconferred to the Society of Fine Arts. In 1883, when themuseum and the protection of archaeological monuments.

Chilean troops occupied Lima in the context of the War of
the Pacific (1879-1884), the museum closed after the(4) Third Period (1919-1948): Years of ‘Indigenismo’looting of its collections.

A civil dictatorial regime from 1919 to 1939, called‘Oncenio’, promoted a nationalistic ideology of state(3)

SecondPeriod(1884-1919):

Post-war

aiming for a “new homeland”, where the Indigenousreconstruction and beginning of Archaeology

communities and popular sectors were in the center of the

The post-war socioeconomic crisis engendered anpolitical agenda. In these decades, the development of

atmosphere of profound criticism among Peruvian‘Indigenismo’, an intellectual movement engaged with theintellectuals, who reflected on the decadence and therevaluation and recognition of the rights and culture of
Summaries of Academic Theses 2019

Indigenous peoples, influenced in the public policies.

and the protection of pre-Hispanic cultural heritage was

Indigenous communities were legally recognized for theconsiderably less compared to previous decades. After the

first time in 1920.

works of Tello, the archaeological activity by nationals

This was a period of mutual collaboration between thedecreased while foreign projects increased in different

state and archaeology. The state considerably supported

regions. The institutions established previously dealt withthe endeavors of archaeology for the reconstruction of thethe protection and conservation of archaeological heritage,

pre-Hispanic (Indigenous) past and the protection ofincreasingly threatened by illegal occupations. By the

pre-Hispanic monuments, as they would allow the

middle of this period, the State attempted for avindication

The

modernization of the cultural policies with the creation ofarchaeological and political advocacy of Indigenist

the first National Commission of Culture and thearchaeologist Julio C. Tello, who was involved in theadministrative body of the House of Culture in 1962. In

study of the origin of the civilization in the Andes,

1972, the National Institute of Culture (INC) was createdactivated a series of institutional arrangements towards

in order to adopt international standards for culture.

ofIndigenous

communities.

the protection of pre-Hispanic material remains.
In 1924, the government founded the Museum of

4. Pachacamac as a Case Study

Peruvian Archaeology amid the celebrations of the

Pachacamac is a pre-Hispanic archaeological complex ofcentennial of the independence of Peru. Tello was named

460.31 Ha located in the Lurin valley, south of Lima city.

director and from his position, he developed significant

It encompasses a series of monumental buildings ofarchaeological fieldwork that increased the knowledge

earthen architecture built in different stages from 200 to

about

of

the 15th century, culminating with the occupation by thearchaeological sites and the collections of the museum.

Inca Empire. The site functioned as a prestigious

Due to political reforms, a new National Museum

pilgrimage center of the Andes, which fame transcended

absorbed the Museum of Peruvian Archaeology in 1931,

in historical records after its abandonment with the

but independent institutions focused on archaeology

Spanish colonization.

emerged again with the creation of the Museum of

The case of Pachacamac was selected due to the amount

Anthropology in 1938 and the Museum of Anthropology

of available literature. It was used to reflect the historicaland Archaeology in 1945, with Tello as director.

development of the periods of entanglements between

The Peruvian cultural heritage legal framework found acultural policies and archaeology.

cornerstone in this period with the enactment of the Law

In the first period (1821-1879), Pachacamac was a locus

N° 6634, which among other regulations, placed theof interest of different local and foreign scholars

rights of the nation over pre-Hispanic monuments asinterested on antiquities. The first director of the National‘inalienable’ and ‘imprescriptible’. It also created theMuseum visited the site and conducted excavations based

National Patronage of Archaeology and the Nationalon his knowledge on engineering. By the middle of theMonuments, which were initially eleven sites.

19th century, images of the architecture of the site could

pre-Hispanic

cultures,theprotection

be found in the publications made by explorers and(5) Fourth Period (1948-1972): Modernization andnaturalists, and in atlases financed by the state to display

Cultural Transitions

the national history.

From 1948, two military dictatorial regimes were

In the second period (1884-1919), the site became thedeveloped following coups: the ‘Ochenio’ (1948-1956)

location of the first scientific excavations in Peru authoredand the ‘Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces’by German archaeologist Max Uhle, who years after(1968-1980). This was a period of industrial development

directed the National Museum when it re-opened in theand modernization through public policies, which

post-war reconstruction. Uhle’s archaeological works

happened in parallel with the demographic composition

contributed significantly to clarifying the chronology ofof the big coastal cities due to internal migrations.

pre-Hispanic history beyond the Incas. The excavations

In these decades, the attention to the role of archaeology

and mappings that preceded those of Uhle aimed to

学位論文梗概集 2019

understand the history before the Incas but wereof sociopolitical and socioeconomic crisis. Thissignificantly shorter in time and less controlled.

heritage was protected first after the independence

In the third period (1919-1948), amid the state’s

from Spain with an aim to create an autonomous

nationalist ideologies based on Indigenismo, the site was

identity, then after the War of the Pacific with an aim

declared National Monument. By 1938, some sectors of

to build a national unity and reconstruct the national

the site were restored to display its monumentality. An

history, eventually with an agenda of vindication of

iconic restoration was made by archaeologist Julio C.

values of the Andean Indigenous culture.

Tello between 1940-1942 in the Inca building of(2) Particular agents that dealt with archaeology, andAcllahuasi. This intervention aimed to convert the site intheir ideas about the role of the past in the present,

an archaeological park, but it considerably remarked thecatalyzed the protection of pre-Hispanic heritage.

Inca architectural features to show the greatness of the(3) The material culture of the pre-Hispanic (Indigenous)

Indigenous past.

past was protected and administered along the

In the fourth period (1948-1972), the site was restored

post-colonial nation building of Peru, while theagain and a site museum was founded. As illegal

history of the Indigenous societies prior to the arrival

occupations represented a threat for its conservation,of the Spanish was being reconstructed andprotective walls of concrete were built for the first time.

understood. However, Indigenous populations did
not benefit from this process, as they remained

5. Discussion and Conclusions
This research visualized that cultural policies focused onsocially

marginalized

even

with

their

legal

recognition.

pre-Hispanic heritage did not follow a single and unified(4) The status of pre-Hispanic heritage was reinforced

agenda in 150 years of Republican history, but many

progressively, following the agenda of the State

activated by particular sociopolitical circumstances, andtowards the construction of a national identitywith the participation of certain agents that lobbied for thethrough cultural policies.

protection of heritage and located it in the agenda of thegovernment. Following the theoretical background, theReferences

history of Peru shows how pre-Hispanic heritage,

1) Anderson, B., Imagined Communities, 1991

represented by monuments and objects, was appropriated2) Cultura, Ministerio de, Política Nacional de Cultura: Marco Conceptual

by the State with ideals of Enlightenment and classicism

para la Elaboración de Políticas Culturales en el Perú, 2017

initially, and successively protected in the process of3) Gathercole, P. W. and Lowenthal, D, The Politics of the Past, 1989

becoming an independent modern nation-state, too often

4) Hobsbawm, E. and Ranger, T., The Invention of Tradition, 1983

tied with nationalist aspirations. The symbolism of5) Kaltmeier, O. and Rufer, M., Entangled Heritages: Postcolonial

pre-Hispanic material culture was utilized by the State

Perspectives on the Uses of the Past in Latin America, 2017and political agents to build a sense of national history
and identity. In this process, archaeology became apowerful ally with an agenda focused on the6) Kohl, P. L. and Fawcett, C., Nationalism, politics and the practice ofarchaeology, 1995
7) Silverman, H., Touring the Ancient Times: The Present and Presented

reconstruction of the ancient history or the origins of the

Past in Contemporary Peru. American Anthropologist, 104 (3), 881-902,

nation. The initiatives for protecting pre-Hispanic heritage

2002

appear as answers to processes of change that followed

8) Smith, L. J., Uses of Heritage, 2006

contexts of unprecedented crisis: First, the wars of9) Tello, J. C. and Mejía Xesspe, T., Historia de los Museos Nacionales delIndependence and second, the War of the Pacific.
The main conclusions of the present study are given
hereafter:(1) The appropriation and protection of pre-Hispanic

Perú 1822-1946, 1967
10) Uhle, M., Pachacamac: Report of the William Pepper, M. D. LL. D.,
Peruvian Expedition of 1896, Volumen 1, 1903
11) Winter, T., Heritage and Nationalism: An Unreachable Couple?.

heritage tells a history of a relationship between

Institute for Culture and Society Occasional Paper Series, 3 (4), 1-13,

heritage and nationalism, often triggered by episodes

2012

Summaries of Academic Theses 2019