[An archaeologist traces the current protests in Peru to
exploitive labor policies enacted in silver mines during Spanish
colonial rule from 1532 to 1800.]
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THE COLONIAL ROOTS OF PERU’S TROUBLES  
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Saraha A. Kennedy
March 1, 2023
Sapiens [[link removed]]


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_ An archaeologist traces the current protests in Peru to exploitive
labor policies enacted in silver mines during Spanish colonial rule
from 1532 to 1800. _

A worker gazes into the mountain mist at Machu Picchu, which the
Peruvian government closed for several weeks in response to protests.
, Michael Robinson Chávez The Washington Post/Getty Images

 

✽

LAST MONTH, PERU’S Ministry of Culture closed the famous Inca
citadel
[[link removed]],
Machu Picchu, following a series of violent protests. The turmoil,
which has resulted in the deaths of at least 60 people
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followed former President Pedro Castillo’s arrest
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impeachment in December—what supporters and some other nations have
called a coup. On February 15, Machu Picchu reopened
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but the political tumult persists.

Although authorities claim Machu Picchu was closed for safety
concerns, as an archaeologist who has worked in Peru since 2010, I see
the move as deeply symbolic. Those in power closed access to the
period in Peru’s past when much of today’s turmoil originated, the
period of colonization that began with the conquest of the Inca Empire
by Spain in A.D. 1532.

To understand the origins of what might seem like isolated political
unrest, we need to look to the oppressive, extractive practices
enacted during the Spanish colonial period, which dates from A.D.
1532–1800.

PERUVIAN COLONIAL MINES

As a historical archaeologist, I research the legacies of Spanish
colonial policies in Peru. To better understand forced labor during
this period, I examine historic documents and conduct archaeological
excavations in Peruvian colonial mines and refineries.

Since 2016, I have worked in Puno, Peru, a city that sits on the banks
of Lake Titicaca. The Puno region has been hit especially hard
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the recent upheaval
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with more than 17 people killed and 68 injured
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clashes with security forces. The area has seen massive protests, road
blockades, airport closures, and the halting of central economic
activities.

Under the ruins of a colonial-era silver refinery called Chorrillos
Itapalluni, in the Lake Titicaca region of Peru, darkly stained soil
(in the bottom right) contains high levels of mining waste, including
lead and mercury. Sarah A. Kennedy

Nearby, along the Itapalluni River, foundations remain from a grinding
mill and buildings where the Trapiche silver refinery once operated.
Sarah A. Kennedy

Meanwhile, the mining industry, entrenched in corrupt government
dealings and unfair labor practices, continues on, so far largely
unaffected
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the unrest.

As it is today, mining was an important part of Peru’s economy in
the past. Silver funded Spain’s colonial wars of expansion and
decorated its Catholic churches. The metal came from silver deposits
in Peru and Bolivia, some of the richest on earth. Bolivia’s Potosí
mines alone produced over half of the world’s silver in the first
100 years of its existence. The region’s mines were so successful,
the Spanish peso became the first global currency by the end of the
18th century.

The silver was extracted, refined, and transported on the backs of
Indigenous and African laborers. The exploitation of these workers was
the foundation of Spanish colonial wealth
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Indigenous laborers, called _mitayos_, were drafted and forced to
work in Peruvian colonial mines and refineries under
the _mita _system [[link removed]].
More than 8 million workers
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in these work sites, which became known as the “mines of death.”

In a recent study
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the silver refinery of Trapiche Itapalluni near Puno, our team
identified a series of exploitative, colonial labor policies that
harmed Indigenous people and the environment. [1] Today similar
practices continue to bring about inequality, exploitation, and
environmental destruction for Peruvians.

To detect metals such as mercury and lead, the author (right) zaps the
ground with an instrument called an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.
Isabel Gourley

Collaborating with local Indigenous communities, we found traces of
toxic metals, including lead and mercury, left in the soils at the
Trapiche refinery. These still-toxic sites sit near Indigenous
settlements and water sources.

I also examined colonial documents that described refinery workers
being forced to mix a slurry of ground silver and mercury with their
bare feet, as well as to heat the mixture in ovens, breathing in toxic
fumes. Some workers were crushed by grinding stones and in tunnel
collapses. Analysis of human remains
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indicate that colonial miners suffered interpersonal violence,
backbreaking work, and child labor. Today Peruvian mine workers
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of the same
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and hazards.

In addition to being unsafe, Peruvian colonial mines and refineries
relied on coercive labor policies to force people to work, usually
without pay. According to historic census records, many people were
sent to work in the mines against their will under the _mita _draft.
Others worked to pay off debts. Some were enslaved.

In Puno, historical documents
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Africans, _mitayos_, debtors, and free laborers all toiled in mines
and refineries. Jewelry and shawl pins that my team uncovered during
excavations at Trapiche reveal that families worked at these places
together. These items provide additional evidence of child labor,
which still occurs in Peru’s mines.

A book published in 1581 describes the bountiful silver mines at
Potosí, in Bolivia, which helped fund Spain’s colonial wars. John
Carter Brown Library, Brown University

Indigenous Peruvians toil in a metal workshop in this 18th-century
engraving. John Carter Brown Library, Brown University

While facing danger and oppression, past workers were able to make
some profit on the side. Colonial-era miners took advantage of free
days to work in the mines independently, as they were allowed to take
any ore they found. Often, they would hide rich silver veins from
Spanish administrators to mine themselves later. Other illicit
activities that circumvented government regulations included
clandestine refining and smuggling of silver.

Similarly, today’s Peruvians illegally extract or refine ore on
their own, by hand and independent of large corporations. This
so-called artisanal mining
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be people’s only means
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supplement their income and make a living—especially during recent
periods of climate change–fueled drought, the pandemic, and rising
inflation costs, when no other options
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been available.

THE LEGACIES OF COLONIAL EXPLOITATION

Today’s Peru is not post-colonial. Exploitative labor practices like
those initiated during the Spanish colonial period endure. This can be
seen in multinational corporate mining, the dispossession of
Indigenous lands, and the destruction of the environment.

The modern Peruvian state is failing to protect its people and
environment from exploitative, extractive industries. And the current
protesters know it. The protesting Peruvians, many from rural
Indigenous communities
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demand action to address government corruption, inequality, inflation,
climate change, and environmental degradation.

Protesters set fire to tires outside the gated railway entrance to
Machu Picchu. Jesus Tapia/AFP/Getty Images

To be sure, some believe the current political crisis has no
historical impetus. In White, elite Peruvian circles in the capital
city of Lima, many blame
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Indigenous communities
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for their poverty and inequality. Others, such as Peru’s new
president (and Castillo’s former vice president), Dina
Boluarte, blame
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traffickers, communists, and the illegal mining industry for the
current violence
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However, these issues grew from the colonial experience, and we must
continue to advance decolonizing Peru if they are to be truly
addressed.

As the number of exploited Peruvian workers continues to rise, we can
look to the colonial past to better understand the roots of the
country’s extractive labor practices. These long-standing economic
activities have accrued enormous environmental and social debts. The
protestors, and international onlookers like me, say it’s time the
government takes responsibility for those debts.

_SARAH A. KENNEDY [[link removed]] is
an archaeologist who studies forced labor in colonial Peru
(1532–1800). She received her Ph.D. from the University of
Pittsburgh and is the Robert A. Oden Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for
Innovation in the Humanities and Archaeology at Carleton College. Her
research, funded by the Archaeological Institute of America, evaluates
the ongoing environmental impact of abandoned silver mines and
refineries on local descendant communities in Puno, Peru. Follow her
on Twitter @SarahDigsDeep [[link removed]]._

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* Science
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* Archaeology
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* Peru
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* colonialism
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* Indigenous peoples
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* Racism
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* exploitation
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* mining
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* environment
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