2007 August 15 Magnitude 7.9 Earthquake near the Coast of Central Peru

A field reconnaissance mission was led to the areas affected by the disaster caused by the Magnitude 7.9 earthquake event of 15/08/2007 near the city of Pisco in Peru. The main objectives of the mission were to collect data and make observations leading to improvements in design methods and techniques for strengthening and retrofit, and to assist the phase of reconstruction. The mission focused on the behaviour of non-engineered structures, in particular those of adobe constructions. The findings of the mission confirmed that most of the damage was observed on adobe houses constructed with traditional non anti-seismic techniques which either collapsed or nearly collapsed, causing 519 deaths, 1,366 injuries and more than 58,000 houses destroyed. The mission also confirmed that buildings constructed according to modern earthquake resistant design standards performed with no evident damage. All the parties contacted during the mission, especially the EC Delegation, showed particular interest in the results of the present mission report, which will be taken into consideration when planning the reconstruction phase, especially of the most distant rural areas, where close collaboration between the Governmental Institutions, International Organizations, Universities and NGO¿s, will be needed to assist the population for the adoption of earthquake resistant designs in the reconstruction of the destroyed houses.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Dating the dead: New radiocarbon dates from the lower Ica Valley, south coast Peru

This article presents radiocarbon dates from human bone samples (n = 13) from seven pre-Columbian cemeteries in the Samaca and Ullujaya Basins of the lower Ica Valley, south coast of Peru, spanning from the end of the Early Horizon to the Inca Late Horizon. These contexts have been severely looted. Yet, in all cases, their putative dating by material culture remains is confirmed by these 14C dates. This shows that such disturbed contexts, sadly typical of the Peruvian coast, can nonetheless still yield valuable bioarchaeological and burial practice data. These dates elaborate upon an emerging picture of the absolute dating of the cultural phases of the wider south coast region, in particular casting new light on the poorly understood Middle Horizon to Late Intermediate period transition. A paucity of archaeological data for this 3-century period has been taken as evidence of some sort of environmentally or socially induced lacuna. Instead, the 14C dates presented here suggest that the basins of the lower Ica Valley were continuously occupied over this period.We thank the Ministerio de Cultural del Perú for granting permission for the fieldwork (No. 0028-2010-VMPCIC-MC) and analysis of samples for dating (No. 369-2011-VMPCIC-MC); Alberto Benavides Ganoza and the people of Samaca for facilitating fieldwork; the Arts and Humanities Research Council for LC's doctoral funding; the NERC Radiocarbon Facility for funding radiocarbon dating (grant number NF/2012/1/7 to TCO’C and LC); and Tom Higham, Diane Baker, Ingmar Unkel and Elmo Leon for their help and advice.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from University of Arizona via http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/azu_rc.57.1834

Human Processing of Rodents in Patagonia: The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographical Data for Archaeological Interpretations

The consumption of small mammals was a widespread practice between indigenous societies worldwide. Modern taphonomic studies carried out upon bone assemblages from archaeological sites in northern Patagonia (Argentina) demonstrate thatCaviomorph rodents were also included in the diet of Patagonian populations, both from the steppe and the forests, at least since the Late Holocene. The revision of historical and ethnographical documents written by priests, naturalists and ethnographers during c.XVI-XX allow to corroborate that rodents were intensively exploited in Patagonia, continental and insular. Bones, meat and skin of the animals were employed for diverse purposes, and the gathering activity was guided by women and children.Fil: Andrade, Analia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; Argentin

Landscapes of inequality, spectacle and control: Inka social order in provincial contexts, with comments of Sonia Alconini, Gabriel Cantarutti, R. Alan Covey, Ian Farrington, Martti Pärssinen y Simón Urbina

Th is article explores Inka colonial order from a landscape perspective. It is argued that the Inkas strategically employed the spatial organization and architecture of the settlements they built throughout the Empire in order to regulate interactions, create particular representations, and assemble specific experiences. In this sense, this paper examines the spatial layout of Inka provincial centers in order to understand the world the Inkas sought to create within these places. I argue that there are three main principles that organized Inka spatiality in conquered lands: stratifi cation, rituality, and control. It is claimed that those who resided in or visited Inka provincial centers experienced three overlapping landscapes: 1) a landscape of inequality, 2) a landscape of commemoration and spectacle, and 3) a landscape of control.Este artículo explora el orden colonial Inka desde la perspectiva del paisaje. Se argumenta que los Inkas emplearon estratégicamente la organización espacial y la arquitectura de los asentamientos que construyeron a lo largo del Imperio con el objeto de regular las interacciones, crear representaciones particulares y ensamblar experiencias específicas. En este sentido, este trabajo examina el diseño espacial de los centros provinciales Inkas para entender el mundo que los Inkas buscaban crear dentro de estos lugares. Argumento que hubo tres principios que organizaron la espacialidad Inka en las tierras conquistadas: la estratificación, la ritualidad y el control. Se sostiene que aquellos que residían o visitaban un centro provincial Inka experimentaron tres paisajes superpuestos: 1) un paisaje de desigualdad, 2) un paisaje de conmemoración y espectáculo y 3) un paisaje de control

El regadío en el área andina central.

Sin resume

Italiani in Perú fra Otto e Novecento: marinai, commercianti, imprenditori di origine ligure

Italian immigration to Peru between the mid nineteenth and the early twentieth century 'albeit numerically limited, as in the case of the other countries of the Pacific coast' revealed peculiar characteristics of its own. The great bulk of the newcomers arrived from Liguria. They were primarily seamen who made their way to their adoptive land less under the stimuli of contingent push and pull factors than because of a geographical and social 'culture of mobility' that was strictly related to their original activities as sailors and merchants. Indeed, commerce 'practiced in small- and micro-scale enterprises, too' was their first occupation in Peru and offered a springboard from which they progressively extended and/or diversified their activities, coming in certain cases (regarding personalities with a solid initial basis) to play a paramount role in the economy, finance, and politics. As stated earlier, the Italians established a quantitatively small community that was nonetheless the largest foreign colony in Peru, at least in the years between the beginning of the 'guano age' and the turn of the new century. In the same period they also made up the wealthiest immigrant group, as the data in the consular records show