Prosperity and prestige: Archaeological realities of unfree laborers under Inka imperialism

Abstract

Inka imperial policies reorganized the social and labor landscapes of their subjects on a grand scale and unprecedented degree in the Americas. The two most numerous categories of resettled laborers created by these imperial policies were the mitmaqkuna and yanakuna, who together represented at least a third of the total subject population. The Inkas resettled them, often far from their homelands. They were responsible for the daily provisioning of Inka settlements and keeping the peace among conquered populations. Despite their central role in Inka state consolidation and economy, we know little about these populations outside of ethnohistorical interpretations of their privileged status relative to normal tribute-paying communities. Because ethnohistoric documents were written with Inka and Spanish state interests in mind, archaeological evidence is crucial to evaluate their lived experiences. We compare the ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence of the lives of the mitmaqkuna and yanakuna in two regions: the mitmaqkuna site of Yanawilka in the Vilcas Huamán province and the yanakuna site of Cheqoq in the rural Inka heartland of Cuzco. Archaeological comparisons yield evidence contradicting the long-held assumption that prestige is synonymous with autonomy, power, or even wealth in imperial contexts.