Stahl fund final report 2013: Archival research and balloon aerial photography of Pomacocha, a Late Horizon and Spanish Colonial site, in Ayacucho, Peru

Archival research and balloon aerial photography of Pomacocha, a Late Horizon and Spanish Colonial site, in Ayacucho, Peru

IntroductionFrom mid-May to mid-July of 2013, I travelled to Peru to do

archival research and balloon aerial photography of a textile workshop (obraje) called Pomacocha, located in the Vilcashuamán province of Ayacucho, Peru. As part of my dissertation research, which focuses on the impact of Spanish colonialism on native waysof life in Peru, the summer research was instrumental in helping me understand how Spanish textile workshops changed the daily lives and identities of its native laborers, and how in turn the laborers were able to stage armed resistance. The Stahl fund madepossible the fruitful research carried out. The goals of the season were to 1) conduct archival research on the obraje of Pomacocha in the archives of Lima, Ayacucho and Cuzco and 2) finish mapping of the colonial textile workshop of Pomacocha using balloon aerial photography.

Results1) Archival research: I visited four archives (Archivo General de la Nación, BibliotecaNacional del Perú, Archivo Regional de Ayacucho, Archivo Regionalde Cuzco), and was able to find important information on Pomacocha in all of them. At the Archivo General de la Nación, there was a document listing the population of all the pueblos, haciendas, estancias and obrajes of the colonial province of Vilcashuamán in the year 1829. This valuable demographic information will complement the censuses of the Vilcashuamán province from 1686, 1719, 1729, and 1792. At the Biblioteca Nacional, a document on the 1793 armed uprising at Pomacocha complements and gives more detail to a previously studied document on the same uprising from the Ayacucho archive. At the Archivo Regional de Ayacucho, I found many important documents on

Pomacocha, including two inventories of the workshop from 1701 (Figure 1) and 1723 and several documents from 1824 to 1833 on how the indians of Vischongo, Vilcashuamán, and Carhuanca had usurped the workshop. At the Archivo Regional de Cuzco, there wasa document on the wars of independence that showed that the workshop of Pomacocha was used as a base station for the rebels (Morochucos). This information complements the diaries of Simon de Bolivar, who had stayed in Pomacocha during the wars of independence, verifying the native composition of the rebel army.The archival research made possible by the Stahl fund made an extremely important contribution to the dissertation, expanding the important role that Pomacocha played in regional uprisings and as a center of resistance and regional cooperation.

Figure 1: An inventory of the Pomacocha workshop in 1701

2) Balloon aerial photography:

Stahl funds were used to purchase a balloon mapping kit from Public Lab and three helium tanks. I decided to use balloon aerial photography as opposed to kite aerial photography because of the uneven terrain and the short time window to do the aerial photography. The uneven terrain meant that it would have been very difficult for an additional person to chase after the kite safely (to catch the camera in case the wind gives out). Becausewe had a short time window of just one day to do the aerial photography, we could not rely on having wind. Therefore, balloonaerial photography was the most feasible and cost-effective option (Figure 2). I made housing from a soda bottle and rubber bands to protect the camera and to add stability (Figure 3). We not only took aerial photos of the workshop but managed to take photos of the colonial plaza and the pre-Hispanic residential area of Pomacocha. There were over 1000 photos taken that day. The photos will prove very useful in refining the current maps and DEMs I already have as well as aid in making a comparative DEM from photogrammetry. The advantage of balloon aerial photography is the increased control in getting the camera to thelocation where you want the photos. That way, we were able to take pinpoint photos of the excavation areas from multiple scales(achieved by adjusting height off the ground) (Figures 4, 5, 6). The balloon attracted a crowd of schoolchildren and served as a great educational afternoon for them!

Figure 2: Adam Webb and Walter Najarro helping out with the balloon aerial photography in the pre-Hispanic residential sectorof Pomacocha.

Figure 3: Camera housing made from a soda bottle and rubber bandsto protect and stabilize camera.

Figure 4: Example of a photo taken with balloon in the pre-Hispanic residential area of Pomacocha.

Figure 5: Example of a photo taken with balloon inside the principal patio of the colonial textile workshop of Pomacocha (now the high school). The faint outline of a former structure (where a test pit was put in 2011) can be seen. A small crowd of children look on.

Figure 6: Photo taken of part of the colonial workshop.

ConclusionBecause of the research in the archives, I have a better

understanding of the material culture of the Pomacocha workshop through the inventories. Also, Pomacocha played a more central role in resistance to Spanish colonialism than previously thought. Such work will help in understanding the bottom-up processes that contributed to both Tupac Amaru rebellion and independence of Peru.

The balloon aerial photography in the pre-Hispanic area of Pomacocha and of the colonial textile workshop will greatly aid in refining the maps as well as creating detailed Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of both areas.

AcknowledgmentsWithout the generous support of the Stahl fund, this research would not have been possible. I would like the thank the various archives, especially Yolanda Auqui of the Archivo General de la Nación, Luis Meves Hinostroza Gonzáles and Juan Gutierrez of the Archivo Regional de Ayacucho, and Nolberto Valencia of the Archivo Regional de Cuzco for granting access and gracious assistance. I would also like to thank José Luis Igue for assistance in locating archival documents in Cuzco and in the Archivo General de la Nacíon. Walter Najarro and Adam Webb were instrumental in the successful balloon aerial photography. I would also like to thank the communities of Pomacocha and Vilcashuamán for their support and participation.