Methodological Considerations in the Study of Ancient Andean Field Systems

Raised field agriculture is a pre-Hispanic intensive crop production system used in the Andean region of highland Peru and Bolivia around the Lake Titicaca Basin (Figure 6.1). The system combines the use of large raised earthen planting platforms with complex networks of intervening canals and ditches. These features are evidence of massive earthmoving and landscape modification covering an area of over 82,000 ha of seasonally waterlogged land surface. The methods for studying raised field agriculture discussed in this paper were employed by the Raised Field Agricultural Project, a long term (over 7 years) multidisciplinary study of ancient Andean agriculture. The research focused on the determination of original raised field morphology, origins and evolution of the system, carrying capacity and population dynamics, field functions, and crops cultivated. Key researchproblems included an assessment of the labor input necessary for construction and maintenance and a study of the field productivity and potential carrying capacity. This information was used to evaluate the efficiency of raised field farming in comparison to other past and present systems. The project also included an applied dimension, in that raised field technology was reintroduced to several communities and actively included the participation of local farmers in the agricultural experiments and fieldwork. Archaeological techniques including analysisof aerial photographs, trenching, chronology development based on stratigraphic, ceramic thermoluminescence and radiocarbon dating, flotation and pollen analysis, settlement analysis and experimental archaeology established a basic outline of the extinct agricultural system. Agricultural experimentation created new possibilities for understanding the pro-