Overstating, Downplaying, and Denying Indigenous Conquest Warfare in Pre-Hispanic Empires of the Andes

Abstract

This chapter explores some of the issues that surround overstating, downplaying, or denying the occurrence of conquest warfare in the pre-Hispanic Andes. This form of conflict had great impact on the societies involved, and it is well known that Andean groups engaged in conquest warfare, particularly during the expansion of the Inca Empire. Reports of Inca conquest warfare were problematic from the beginning, with early written accounts enveloped in the debate about the legitimacy of Spanish imperialism in the Americas. In particular, the Spanish colonial administration benefited from overstating the scope and level of violence of Inca conquest warfare, utilizing such reports to help justify Spanish conquest and rule over the Andes. In terms of current archaeological reporting of pre-Hispanic conflict, various factors may cause researchers to downplay, if not ignore or deny the occurrence of conquest warfare. These include the difficulty of detecting the occurrence of warfare archaeologically, popular theoretical trends in the field, anti-war political sentiments, and the tendency of archaeologists to be partisans of the past inhabitants of the regions they study. But downplaying or ignoring the occurrence of conquest warfare can be problematic for two reasons. First, this may have a negative impact in terms of the objective to interpret accurately the archaeological record. Second, downplaying, ignoring, or denying conquest warfare can pose an ethical dilemma by conflicting with indigenous narratives of the past that link group identity to participation in past battles against or in league with the Incas.