A Multidisciplinary Review of the Inka Imperial Resettlement Policy and Implications for Future Investigations

The rulers of the Inka empire conquered approximately 2 million km<sup>2</sup> of the South American Andes in just under 100 years from 1438–1533 CE. Inside the empire, the elite conducted a systematic resettlement of the many Indigenous peoples in the Andes that had been rapidly colonis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roberta Davidson, Lars Fehren-Schmitz, Bastien Llamas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
Series:Genes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/2/215
Description
Summary:The rulers of the Inka empire conquered approximately 2 million km<sup>2</sup> of the South American Andes in just under 100 years from 1438–1533 CE. Inside the empire, the elite conducted a systematic resettlement of the many Indigenous peoples in the Andes that had been rapidly colonised. The nature of this resettlement phenomenon is recorded within the Spanish colonial ethnohistorical record. Here we have broadly characterised the resettlement policy, despite the often incomplete and conflicting details in the descriptions. We then review research from multiple disciplines that investigate the empirical reality of the Inka resettlement policy, including stable isotope analysis, intentional cranial deformation morphology, ceramic artefact chemical analyses and genetics. Further, we discuss the benefits and limitations of each discipline for investigating the resettlement policy and emphasise their collective value in an interdisciplinary characterisation of the resettlement policy.
ISSN:2073-4425