RETHINKING THE VERTICAL ARCHIPELAGO - ETHNICITY, EXCHANGE, AND HISTORY IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL ANDES

Over the last two decades, one of the most influential concepts in And ean studies has been John Murra's model of vertical ar chipelagoes. Th e model posits that Andean societies established colonies in distant e cological zones in order to gain direct access to goods produced there , thus avoiding trade with other ethnic groups. Yet analysis of the Lu paqa case and reevaluation of the documentary evidence used by Murra p roduce results that challenge key assumptions of the model. Rather tha n representing ecological adaptation or adherence to cultural traditio n, vertical archipelagoes can be better explained in terms of the stra tegies of groups under particular historical conditions.