Thanks to the benevolence of the National Science Foundation and the use of one of their Dissertation Improvement Grants, I am currently conducting my Ph.D. field work in the Saraguro area in the Southern Highlands of Ecuador. Despite the efforts of several ill-tempered indigenous men and their machetes and shotguns, I am trying to investigate the Inca conquest and consolidation of the region. Early Spanish Chroniclers and oral tradition indicate that the Inca came into this area and had a tough time conquering the natives, known as Paltas, but after winning, they deported all the natives and moved in a group of colonists from around Lake Titicaca. Specifically, I hope to see if this population change can be recognized in the archaeological record, while also examining what types of installations the Incas had and how they administered the province. To look at these problems, I am conducting a site survey, covering over 100 km sq. Field work is scheduled to take eight months, after which I plan to come back to the US to write up my dissertation and be done in one more year.

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