Introduction History, Linguistics, and the Andean Past: A Much-Needed Conversation

Abstract

There is little clearer explanation of the rationale behind this book than the citation above. Scholars of various stripes all seek to uncover the “same” Andean past, each with their different data sources and methods that in principle should richly complement each other; yet the lack of co-operation between them is flagrant. This volume targets linguists and historians specifically, for the period since Columbus—or rather, Pizarro. A similar cross-disciplinary conversation on the pre-Columbian era can be found in our companion volume: Archaeology and Language in the Andes (see below).

Since there is scarcely any co-operation between the different disciplines working in the Andes, and since linguists, ethnologists, ethnohistorians and archaeologists proceed unaware of each other, there has been no attempt to establish an overarching vision that might help us better evaluate the import of isolated discoveries in any particular domain.

Gerald Taylor, À la recherche des “proto-quechuas” ¹