Leishmaniasis and Inca settlement in the Peruvian jungle

Journal of Historical Geography, 13, 2 (1987) 113-129

Leishmaniasis and Inca settlement in the Peruvian jungle Genevieve Le Moine and J. Scott Raymond

In an earlier article in this journal D. W. Gade implicated mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, as a major factor deterring the Inca settlement of the Peruvian jungle. A review of the medical, ecological, archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence shows that this was not the case. Leishmaniasiswas not associated with the jungle by the Incas, and so could not have been a deterrent to settlement of that zone. Furthermore, archaeological evidence indicates that the Incas did settle the wet tropical valleys of the eastern Andes more extensively,and permanently, than previouslybelieved. The pattern of Inca occupation and utilization of the jungle is best understood in terms of their political economy and of ancient modes of adaptation to their vertical landscape. It is generally accepted that the Incas did not settle the eastern Peruvian jungles (Montafia) on a large scale. This has been, as D. W. Gade puts it, "one of the grand enigmas of New World cultural-historical geography". Lq Using largely historic Spanish accounts dealing with the early post-conquest period, some epidemiological and archaeological data, and personal observation, Gade suggests " t h a t the Incas did little to settle permanently that jungle zone, although they had the economic motivation, political organization and military power to do so, because of the virulent disease that was endemic there". I21 Although Gade recognizes m a n y possible diseases that m a y have discouraged Inca settlement, he singles out mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (espundia) as "the disease that instilled most dread in the indigenous mind". [31This virulent form of leishmaniasis can destroy the nose. Gade argues that the Incas associated espundia with the Montafia and that this was "the fundamental basis for the negative image [of the Montafia]... since pathology was least controllable of all elements by the Incas in their attempts to settle the rainforest". I41 The use of biomedical explanations for the actions of prehistoric people is fraught with difficulty. These arguments remain inferential at best, except in those cases when medical information can be derived from h u m a n remains (skeletal or mummified) in the quantity and quality necessary for extrapolation to the population leve!. To be properly assessed, such arguments must be placed in a broader context. In this article we challenge Gade's conclusions in the light of additional medical and ecological information, more extensive archaeological evidence, and details of indigenous Andean political and domestic economies. We conclude that it is improbable that the fear of contracting leishmaniasis was a significant deterrent to Inca settlement of the Montafia; that there is little evidence to support Gade's contention that highlanders generally had an aversion to settling in the tropical forest; that contrary to Gade's conclusions the 0305 7488/87/020113 + 17 $03.00/0

113 9 1987 Academic Press Inc. (London) Ltd.

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G. LEMOINE AND J. SCOTT RAYMOND

archaelogical record indicates that there were permanent, sometimes large, preHispanic settlements of highlanders in the Montafia; and finally that sociopolitico-economic considerations which determined the expansion of their empire provide a more satisfying explanation for the lack of extensive Inca settlement of this area.

Medical and ecological evidence Leishmaniasis has been a subject of medical inquiry from at least the beginning of the 20th century.I51 Recently, much progress has been made in identifying the taxonomy of Leishmania species, the course of the disease, and its geographical occurrence. The summary given here follows Lainson and Shaw, E6~ Manson et al. t71 and Lainsonfi 1 Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by infection with protozoal parasites of the genus Leishmania. It is a zoonosis, that is, the parasites naturally occur in wild animals, particularly rodents. Man is infected when he intrudes into the natural cycle, whereby the parasites are transmitted from host to host via an insect vector, in this case sandflies of the family Phlebotominae. In the New World, these are Lutzomyia or Psychodopygus species. N There are four forms of leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis, commonly known as kala-azar, is the most widespread. It ranges from South and Central America, through Europe and and Africa to India and China. f~~ Kala-azar is characterized by fever, followed by emaciation and anemia. A number of internal organs are involved and in some cases the skin may also be affected. A second form is cutaneous leishmaniasis. This is caused by species of the Leishmania mexicana complex and by most known species of the L. braziliensis complex. All of these parasites produce skin lesions. In some cases these are self-healing, but permanent disfiguration may result. L. mexicana mexicana, or chicleros ulcer, for example, can invade the cartilage of the ear and slowly destroy it. A related type, L. b. peruviana, commonly known as uta, is of particular concern here because it has been confused with espundia. A third form is diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis. This is caused by L. mexicana parasites, but occurs only in individuals with "a deficient cell-mediated immunity". II~l Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis causes incurable nodules, which can spread all over the body. Because it develops only in individuals with deficient cell-mediated immunity, it is rare. The last form of this disease is mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. This is caused by the subspecies L. braziliensis braziliensis and is also called espundia. It begins as a skin lesion. While this may heal, the parasite can migrate to the naso-pharyngeal mucous membranes up to 20 years after initial infection. Ll21Eventually the nasal septum will be destroyed. Involvement may also include the lips, palate, larynx, and pharynx. Swallowing can become difficult when the disease is advanced and death may result from starvation, respiratory diseases, or related complications. The two types of leishmaniasis which are of importance here are uta and espundia. Figure 1 shows that the occurrence of these two diseases in South America is allopatric. The distribution of uta is anomalous among the New World leishmanias and is uncharacteristic of leishmaniasis in general. It is the only form present at high altitudes, up to 3000 metres, p31 It is found in the valleys of the Peruvian Andes, generally on the west side of the chain. I~41 Uta is the only New World leishmaniasis with a domestic animal host--dogs. New evidence suggests there is

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a wild animal reservoir, probably rodent, but no particular species identification has been made. E~SJSince uta generally produces one self-healing lesion, it does not present a serious health risk, even though up to 94% of a population m a y be infected.tl61 Espundia is more dangerous. It is caused by a parasite of the L. braziliensis complex, L. b. braziliensis. The wild animal reservoir has not been identified, but a sandfty vector, Psychodopygus wellcomei has been implicated. ~171 This fly inhabits primary forests and is very anthropophillic. There is a high association of espundia with forest clearing, because this activity places m a n in contact with the insect vector. This association has been recognized since at least 1923, even before vector species were recognized, t181 Because of this association with primary forest, espundia, like chiclero's ulcer (L. mexicana mexicana), is found primarily in men, particularly forest workers, f191although women and children do contract it. Although specific data are lacking, there is evidence that recovery from one infection does give immunity against future infection with the same parasite. I2~ This has been demonstrated among the lowland Indians of Brazil, who are positive when tested for infection but show no symptoms of the disease. I211There is some evidence that endemic areas are highly localized. These areas range from particular (unnamed) river valleys to small well defined areas of increased risk. t221 Their existence depends on the ecology of the wild animal host and the insect vector. These have not been studied extensively, but Ward et al. report that in the Serra dos Carajas, Para State Brazil, most infections were acquired in a relatively small area where a road cut left a 680m dry plateau to descend into rain forest. [231 Lainson suggests that in the Amazon Basin most cases of espundia are contracted at altitudes above 300m. [241 Although medical research has not yet progressed to the point where the exact ecological conditions under which leishmaniasis can be contracted are fully understood, primary forest and the time spent in clearing such forests are clearly implicated. Once forests are cleared, the likelihood of infection significantly declines. The correlation of espundia with primary forest is evident in the work of Christensen and de Vasquez who associate the vector of L. b. braziliensis with tree buttresses, f251This microenvironment occurs only where there is undisturbed forest. There is evidence for leishmaniasis infection in secondary forest in Brazil, and possibly for domestic or peridomestic transmission, but this may be a new adaptation. Lainson suggests that domestic or peridomestic transmission is an artefact of observation in that people actually get the disease in forests where they go to collect wood, and come into contact with the sandfly vector, t261 No sandflies carrying the parasite have been recovered from h o u s e s . [271 Outbreaks of espundia of epidemic proportions are associated with the construction of railways and roads through the jungle r281and with men who spend more time in the forest and hence are more likely to be bitten. I291 Incas may not have been exposed to the disease. There is little detailed information concerning the frequency of any of the leishmanias within a population. The extant information, however, does not support Gade's contention that the incidence of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis was high in the Peruvian Montafia nor his suggestion that highlanders m a y have been more susceptible than lowlanders, t3~ Werner and Barreto report that up to 25 % of cases of leishmaniasis in Colombia develop m u c o c u t a n e o u s involvement (espundia), but they give no information as to what the infection rate was in the

INCA SETTLEMENT

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population. I3q McKinley reported that leishmaniasis was considered an important health problem in both Peru and Brazil in the 1930s but again gave no indication of what type of leishmaniasis was involved, or the percentage of the population affected,f321One example is cited in Lainson from Caserio las Aosus, State of Cojdes Brazil, when people became infected with leishmaniasis while doing agricultural work on forested hillsides, f331After 4 years, 21 of 124 people (18.7%) developed lesions, four of them (19% of the infected people, 2.3% of the population) had nasal involvement, r341Two other studies indicate that some as yet unidentified cultural or even genetic factors are involved. Fifty-two cases of leishmaniasis on the eastern slopes of the Andes have been studied by Walton and Valverde. t351Of these cases, 40 were natives (Aymara and Quechua). One of these 40 cases showed extensive nasal mutilation. The other 12 cases were among the black population, and of these, ten showed nasal mutilation. Walton and Valverde noted that among the natives there were cases of extensive destruction of the nasal septum and even of the larynx, but that even in these cases nasal disfiguration was minimal. They did not isolate the reason for different reactions to the parasite, but did note that nutrition and ecology did not appear to be important, since these were the same for both groups. Another study from Bolivia shows much the same results. Philippe Desjeux examined 113 cases of leishmaniasis in a valley on the east side of the Andes, oriented north-east, with altitudes from 400-2,500m. [361He found that among the European population there was only one case (1% of the cases). Twenty per cent of the cases were found among the mestizo population, 15% were found among the black population and 64% among the native Aymara population. To be fully understood, these data must be related to the population structure data that Desjeux provides (Table 1). The percentage of each population group infected was calculated from the population estimates given by Desjeux. I37JAs with the Walton and Valverde study, the black population is clearly the hardest hit. Once again, no explanation for this is put forward. In any case, even the highest rate of infection, 1"7%, is not very high, especially when compared to infection rates of over 90% for uta. 1381Statistics concerning the number of deaths as a result of espundia are unavailable. Two studies of leishmaniasis carried out during the first decade of the twentieth century also indicate a low rate of infection and rare nasal involvement. Of 88 cases of leishmaniasis in Peru studied by Palma, 70 had facial

TABLE 1

Incidence of espundia among European, Mestizo, Aymara and Black populations in the eastern jungle of Bolivia reported in the study of Philippe Desjeux (see note 36) Group

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29,700

100

113

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1 18

G. L E M O I N E A N D J. S C O T T R A Y M O N D

lesions with only four showing invasion of the mucous membranes. I391In 1907, during a four-month stay in the Montafia of southeastern Peru, Ogawa, a doctor for the Inca Rubber and Mining company, reported only three cases of leishmaniasis among 400 patients. Returning to the same region in 1912, but to a locale which is described particularly as an espundia zone, Ogawa reported that of a population of 500 laborers, half Japanese and half Peruvians, there were 35 cases of leishmaniasis, two of which had nasal infestations. F4~ In Palma's study we do not know what percentage was infected with uta and what percentage with espundia, but all of the cases reported by Ogawa were almost certainly espundia. It is clear that historically the rate of infection with espundia was low. Modern medical evidence, then, clearly indicates that mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is contracted in primary forest, mainly between the altitudes of approximately 300 and 2,400m. asl. It may be further restricted seasonally, according to Lainson, and to particular micoenvironments, although these factors are not well understood. There is currently no evidence for domestic or peridomestic transmission. Although there is little information concerning the incidence of espundia, what there is indicates that it is not a common disease, and is even less common among native Andean highlanders than it is among non-native population. Given these low rates of infection, it is difficult to see how espundia could be the fundamental reason for Inca avoidance of the Montafia. The evidence Gade presents to demonstrate that it was is incomplete. I411To begin with he states that espundia occurs below the 2,400m contour, using distribution data from very early studies. L421He does not examine the microenvironmental limitations on the disease, based on the distribution of the sandfly vector. Since there is evidence that endemic areas of leishmaniasis may be quite restricted, I431if the Incas did associate espundia with the jungle (which may not be the case), they could have placed their settlements to avoid known endemic areas. Gade also hypothesizes that "as newcomers to the jungle, highlanders would not initially have those cultural practices of household living, medical care, hygiene, nutrition, food preparation and work, which would tend to minimize the disease load in a new environment", t441This point may have some validity. Aston and Thorley have pointed out that cultural practices, particularly hygiene and nutrition, may be important in prevention of leishmaniasis even when there is direct exposure to it. [4sl There are, however, few data to support this. Others report that these factors have n o e f f e c t . [461 The living conditions and habits of the Incas in the Montafia are not well known, but they were not necessarily newcomers to the Montafia environment. The archaeological evidence suggests that highlanders had long colonized and exploited the Montafia.

Cultural-historical evidence Early historical accounts of disease in the Andes are so general that they are of little use in studying the incidence of any particular ailment. The particular disease referred to is often unclear and the accuracy of the indications of the prevalence of any one disease is questionable. Gade's citation of an account of "200 Indians at any one time 'with their noses eaten away'" in the Cuzco native hospital during the 16th century, is a case in point, t471We have no idea how large a population the 200 Indians were drawn from. We do not know how accurately or how long the records were kept, and we do not know if all of the individuals

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did indeed have espundia. If the account is accurate, it suggests the incidence of espundia in the Andes was much higher during the early colonial times than it is today or was in the early 20th century. This must be understood in the context of the exceptionally poor health and nutritional status of the Indian population during colonial times which resulted from the disintegration of the indigenous economy and abusive labor practices of the Spaniardsl Gade cites Loaisa who says that "of ten who entered [the Montafia of Cuzco], five did not return", t48j However, according to Loaisa the loss of life was nearly as great in the highland mining communities: "of five hundred who went this year [to Potosi], 200 did not return. ''[491 The Spaniards were wanton in their use of the labor-tax (mita) which they adopted from the Incas. Villages were depleted of their labor. Local food production plummeted, and a large part of the indigenous population was on the edge of starvation. Living conditions and food supply for the workers in the coca fields were particularly poor. FS~ Under such circumstances, diseases such as leishmaniasis may have been a contributory factor to high mortality, but they probably would have been relatively insignificant had the population otherwise been healthy. Just as it is unclear how widespread both uta and espundia are now, it is by no means clear, how important they were historically and prehistorically. Interpretations of the record are plagued by a misunderstanding of the disease, particularly in distinguishing between the two geographically distinct forms. The question of how the Incas classified and understood the etiology of leishmaniasis is crucial. Did they recognize the two forms, uta and espundia? How did they explain their causation? If the fear of contracting leishmaniasis did deter the Incas from settling the Montafia, then they must have had some understanding of the ecology of the disease; however, neither Gade nor we have found clear evidence that they had such an understanding. Disease theory among Andean cultures is poorly studied, so we are forced to rely on rather general accounts of how the Incas understood etiology. Rowe says that, according to the Incas, "all disease had supernatural causes", and LaBarre's study among the Bolivian Aymara confirms that similar ideas about disease were held by at least one group of modern Andean Indians. fSIJ Natural phenomena such as springs, lakes, rocks were sometimes seen as the particular agent involved in an illness, but the cause was supernatural. Andean peoples seem to have been interested in "Why did I become ill?" more than the general etiological question, "What caused this disease?" It seems unlikely, then, that they would have attributed any specific disease to a broad region such as the Peruvian jungle. There is no direct evidence to indicate that the Incas made a distinction between uta and espundia, yet it would have been necessary for them to do so in order to attribute espundia exclusively to the Montafia. Only within the last few decades have the two diseases been distinguished in modern epidemiological studies. Tamayo, in his account of the geographical occurrence and etiology of uta in Peru, recognized that the symptoms were often more severe in the eastern valleys of the Andes than on the westen side, but he failed to identify the two forms of leishmaniasis involved, using the term uta generically for manifestations of the disease in both regions. E521Tamayo also pointed out that uta was endemic in the western valleys to the extent that some communities derived their names from the high percentage of uta among their inhabitants, t531 Arce was among the first to distinguish the Andean forms of leishmaniasis; t541

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however, as indicated below, uta and espundia continued to be confused until very recently. While the Incas possibly had a better understanding of disease and its causation than did modern students of Andean disease such as Tamayo, there is no evidence to support that claim. In its early stages, espundia is very similar to uta; they both show cutaneous lesions. Nasal involvement only begins later, if the disease progresses. Since Andean communities practice transhumance between agricultural production zones which occur at different elevations along the steep mofintain sides, f55j those involved in coca production normally spend only part of each year within the espundia zone. Furthermore, since nasal necrosis due to espundia does not appear for months or years after the initial infection and since the early symptoms closely resemble those of uta, it is improbable that these two forms of leishmaniasis were distinguished or attributed to the jungle zones. There has long been an interest among the medical profession in the historic and prehistoric occurrence of leishmaniasis in the Andes. Historically this interest has been frustrated by the paucity of information in the early chronicles,t561 Currently all of the prehistoric evidence for the presence of leishmaniasis is indirect. There are representations on pottery which have been interpreted as depicting the disease (among other things), and there is the inference, particularly in the case of uta since there is no wild animal host, that the disease must have been present for many millennia in order for the parasite to adapt. In terms of the latter inference, there is now evidence that there is a wild animal reservoir, I571but this does not nullify the older argument. Lainson points out that "the discovery that such primitive South American mammals as sloths, anteaters and armadillos are the natural hosts of a number of different leishmanias has removed any reasonable doubt as to the antiquity of South American leishmaniasis"3581 As early as the beginning of this century it was recognized that all of the ceramics showing mutilation of the nose and lips did not necessarily depict leishmaniasis, t591Among other interpretations were intentional mutilation, either as punishment, as an attempted cure for espundia, or as a sacrificial gesture to help the potato crop, [6~ and unintentional deformities, due to abnormal localized obesity, facial paralysis L6q or verruga, t621 another disease which can cause similar lesions. For unintentional deformities, it is important to understand that leishmaniasis is superficially like a number of other diseases, some of which must be differentiated on the basis of microscopic examination of samples taken from the patient. F631Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that some of the pottery does indeed represent people suffering from espundia. According to Weiss this is so obvious in some cases that these anthropomorphic jars have been used as examples in specialized medical monographs, f641 A major problem with the interpretation of these vessels is the confusion about the terminology. Most commonly, uta is used to refer to all forms of leishmaniasis, without differentiating between the two geographically distinct forms. Thus Wells recognizes that there are two names for the disease, uta and espundia, but describes uta as a disease which attacks the soft tissues of the face and which is usually fatal, characteristics usually applied to espundia. [651Salaman also recognizes the two names for the disease, but deals only with mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, which he also calls u t a . [661 The problem is most evident in W e i s s . [671 He is clearly discussing uta, but the symptoms he ascribes to

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it are those of espundia. That he means uta is clear by his description of the endemic areas. He describes "the geographical coincidence of the endemic locations with those which produce the best potatoes of Peru", which he says falls between 1,000 and 3,000m on both sides of the Andes. [68] This actually describes some aspects of the distribution of both uta and espundia. Uta is found up to 3,000m on the west side of the Andes, and espundia is found below 2,400m on the east side of the Andes. [691 Both the fact and the nature of Weiss's misinterpretation may be instructive, however. The thrust of Weiss's argument is that there is a connection between mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, verruga and potatoes. This connection has to do with potato fertility and the aforementioned coincidence (perceived) of high quality potato growing areas and endemic zones of leishmaniasis. This perceived coincidence apparently still exists. Weiss reports that housewives consider scars of leishmaniasis on vendors to be a sign that their potatoes are from the best areas. [7~ Unfortunately it is not clear whether he means any leishmaniasis or specifically L. b. peruviana or L. b. braziliensis. The former is possibly the case, but since he is discussing anthropomorphic ceramics with mutilated noses, the latter seems more likely. Both Weiss [71l and Salaman ~72] have suggested that there is some physical resemblance between potatoes (particularly anthropomorphized potatoes) and people suffering from espundia. They argue that this has led to a mythological connection of leishmaniasis and potatoes, especially potato fertility, in which case it may not have been considered so much a dreaded disease as a sign from the gods. (Weiss even indicates that people suffering from leishmaniasis were put in charge of potato fields. [731) Although this is conjecture, it does cast further doubt on Gade's suggestion that espundia was "the dominant symbol to the Incas of the insalubrious and redoubtable environmental zone in which coca grew. ,,[74] Interpretations of the ceramic evidence, then, both by Salaman [751 and Weiss, [761suggest that leishmaniasis was associated with potatoes, a high altitude crop, rather than with the Montafia, even though this is the only place where espundia, the disease which is actually depicted, can be contracted. With respect to other indirect evidence, Gade notes that most pre-Inca and Inca settlements which have been discovered by archaeologists are above the range of endemic leishmaniasis and concludes that this "archaeological pattern suggests that pre-Hispanic highlanders located their permanent settlements above the danger of contracting leishmaniasis. ''I771 Gade is correct that few pre-Hispanic highland settlements have been found within the putative leishmaniasis zone; however, there is good reason to believe that the archaeological data are not representative of pre-Hispanic patterns of settlement. From the standpoint of archaeological research, the forested eastern slopes of the Andes are almost a terra incognita. In the Andes archaeological surveys have emphasized the open, more accessible, terrain of the drier highland valleys almost to the exclusion of the Montafia. Many of the sites which have been discovered were found by explorers and adventurers searching for ruins of lost cities, rather than by archaeologists carrying out systematic research. The discovery of ancient settlements, large or small, is hampered by the camouflage of vegetation. The humid climatic conditions and the probable greater reliance among settlers in the Montafia on perishable construction materials such as wood and cane reduce the chances for survival of the evidence of past settlements.

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Nevertheless, the few archaeological surveys which have been carried out in the upper Montafia have shown that concentrated inspections repay the effort. Although answers to questions relating to matters such as population density, land use patterns, exchange of produce, and permanence of settlements are still uncertain, the evidence indicates that long before the expansion of the Inca empire, extensive sections of the eastern slopes of the Andes were colonized, controlled and exploited by people who had their closest cultural ties with the highlands. In the concentrated survey of the Montafia to the northeast of Tarma (see Figure 2), Hastings has identified a group of 24 sites which he believes were first occupied during the two or three centuries preceding the Inca conquest. [78]The sites are unevenly dispersed over a landscape approximately 10 by 30kin and range in altitude from 4,300 to 1,600m. Hastings describes the site locations in terms of four settlement tiers defined by specific elevational limits. Twelve sites and 39% of the buildings are situated within the outer (2,100-2,300m) and lower (1,600-3,000m) tiers. Although short-term occupation cannot be ruled out,

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Hastings suggests the clustering of stone-built structures, associated with quantities of ceramic refuse are indicative of greater permanence of residence in each of the tiers than is associated with ethnographically recorded transhumant highland peoples such as the Q'ero. [79] In the lower Apurimac Valley, Raymond has identified pre-Hispanic settlements of probable highland affiliation at elevations between 600 and 800m. tS~ The same elevational zone seems to have been favoured for settlement by historic highland peoples. ~SqNot all of the sites can be dated with confidence; however, on the basis of diagnostic ceramics, settlement plans, and architectural features, Raymond has suggested that the two largest sites, each of which covers several hectares, may have been outposts of the pre-Incaic empire of Huari, which lasted from the 7th through the 10th centuries A.D. t821Most of the other highland affiliated sites are probably from the period immediately following Huari (Late Intermediate Period), although some may date to the time of the Inca empire or to early colonial times. Bonavia investigated 3 sites of stone architecture situated along the upper edge of the cloud forest above the Apurimac and Mantaro Valleys. f831 He tentatively assigned these sites to the Inca period, although there were no definite criteria for dating them. Sites similarly situated but as yet uninvestigated are reported from the western rim of the lower Apurimac valleyJ 841These sites seem to have been strategically situated for the control of goods received through exchange or produced in the tropical forest below. Some of the highland affiliated sites which R a y m o n d investigated in the valley bottom may have been complementary settlements reflecting a pattern of settlement during late prehistoric times similar to that still seen today in some parts of the area: the principal settlements are situated in the mountains with satellite settlements situated in the jungle for production of coca and other tropical goods. In historic times control of the lowland production zones was apparently very firm. Samanez Ocampo recounts the ruthless vigour with which the highlanders defended the western slopes of the lower Apurimac valley against threatened encroachment by Europeans or indigenous lowland peoples, tSsl Archaeological evidence suggests settlement size and permanence varied through time, but some settlements are rather large and are situated at elevations where year-round cropping of coca would have been possible, f86J The lowland Inca province of Vilcabamba comprised a large section of the Montafia lying between the Urubamba and Apurimac valleys. The Incas retreated to this province following the Spanish conquest of Cuzco, and during the period from 1537 to 1572 the region supported a considerable population, tSvJ Vilcabamba had supplied the highland Inca population with various lowland crops which could not be grown in the highlands, and in turn must have been well supplied in order to provision the Incas during their 35-year retreat. Occupation of the Vilcabamba allowed the Incas to harry the Spaniards from the rear and forced them to found the settlement at Ayacucho in order to prevent Inca attacks. Lyon suggests that control of the Vilcabamba was achieved early in the expansion of the Inca empire and that it was strategically crucial to the conquest and control of the highlands to the west of Cuzco. ~881 The province of Vilcabamba has never been systematically surveyed by an archaeologist; however, the explorations of Savoy revealed the existence of numerous Inca sites to the north and west of Machu Picchu and possible evidence of earlier Huari settlement, ml Savoy suggests the capital of Vilcabamba

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was the Inca "center of commerce for the Montafia", and he believes from the evidence that the Incas "concentrated a rather large population [there] over a considerable period of time". [9~ The site which Savoy identifies as the ancient capital is situated in the jungle near the modern settlement of Espiritu Pampa at an elevation of about 1300m above sea level. While Savoy's discoveries require further archaeological research, his evidence cannot be dismissed. In the Inambari valley of southeastern Peru no remains of habitation sites were found in the leishmaniasis zone during Isbell's brief survey of that region. [9q In his account, however, Isbell suggests that the "forest cover and the perishable nature of wood or adobe construction in a hot humid climate offer a convincing explanation for the dearth of such remains. 'L921 Furthermore, he concludes that a "great part of the valley.., from about 1200m to perhaps 800m above sea level was in the past intensively cultivated on artificially levelled and stone-faced terraces". The time and labour necessary for the construction, maintenance, and utilization of such a massive agricultural construction does not seem indicative of a peripatetic population. The accounts of early chroniclers shed little light on the matter of Inca occupation of the Montafia. They are sometimes contradictory, frequently exaggerate the hostility of the jungle environment, and often reflect a prejudiced view of the natives of the Montafia. Regional censuses or visitas, completed during the 16th century, and the journals and letters of early explorers and missionaries are more explicit. The visitas of Ortiz de Zufiiga[931for the Huanuco region of north-central Peru and Diez de San Miguel [94]for Chucuito in southern Peru provide rich details regarding the local economies from the level of the village to that of the state. [951In both regions mention is made of lands held in the Montafia for the production of coca, cotton, chili and other goods essential to the domestic and state economies. In the Huanuco region individual households and communities held lands in the Montafia and the sierra, moving back and forth. In southern Peru the Lupaqa apparently maintained colonies in the jungle because of the great distances between highland and Montafia production zones. Under the Incas, the rulers of the Lupaqa would have had access to coca through that produced by their colonists, through redistribution from the stores of the Incas and possibly through the production by residents of the Altiplano who migrated seasonally to work in the coca fields of residents of the Montafia.[961 These same organizational principles are still found at the local level among many of the indigenous communities in Peru and Bolivia. [971 Goods are produced in multiple environmental zones which are graduated vertically along the steep slopes of the Andean valleys. The pattern of settlement within a region is strongly influenced by the distance between production zones, the relative need for labour investment among the zones and the relative economic importance of the goods produced in each zone. Where the spacing between the zones is compact, a single village may be able to manage production effectively. Where there are significant travelling distances between zones, there are usually one or more satellite settlements or a system of exchange of goods between settlements. Only under the latter circumstances would one expect to find permanent or year-round settlements in the Montafia, and even then they need not be nucleated communities. The pre-Hispanic highland chiefdoms and states of Peru and Bolivia were probably built on some version of this regional model. A series of self-sufficient

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economic units were linked together under a centralized, hierarchical political economy. Exchange of goods between distant production zones was effected through labour-tax and institutionalized reciprocity. ~98J The expansion of the Inca empire was not one of conquering unoccupied or lightly settled territory, such as the upper Montafia, and wresting it from another state or chiefdom. Rather, the Incas conquered their neighbours, most of w h o m had political, social and economic organizations similar to their own. The newly conquered territory became a new province of the empire. The old chiefs of the conquered districts were kept on, incorporated into the nobility of the Incas, and their children were taken to Cuzco to be made loyal citizens of the empire. The territory of the conquered province, then, became Inca territory~ and the Incas represented a new layer at the top of the political pyramidJ 991 The successful rapid expansion of the Incas can probably be credited largely to this linking together of very similar polities. A large part of the initial expansion of the Inca state was a conquest of polities which had been previously united under the Huari empire. I~~176 The Incas extended their boundaries to the north and south. To expand their conquests to the east into the Amazon basin they would not only have been faced with various strategic and logistic difficulties posed by the biophysical environment, but the conquered peoples would have been organized along very different principles from the Incas. Conquest and control of the jungles beyond the upper Montafia would have necessitated the creation of administrative institutions distinct from those which were successfully applied in the highland and coastal provinces.

Summary and conclusions The extent to which the Incas occupied the jungles to the east of their imperial homeland in the highlands is not yet obvious. Although it is doubtful that they made extensive conquests of the Upper Amazon, both archaeological and historical evidence indicate that the Incas, and the highland peoples whom they conquered, had established colonies in the Montafia long before the imperial conquest. Sites in the Inambari, L1~ the Vilcabamba, [1~ the Apurimac t~~ and the Alto Perene [~~ valleys are indicative of more than a peripatetic settlement system. Since many of these sites were situated within the endemic zone of leishmaniasis, fear of contracting that disease does not seem to have been an effective deterrent to settlement, at least in these regions. There are several reasons for doubting that the Incas saw leishmaniasis as a threat to settlement of the Montafia. First, although supporting data are ambiguous, some scholars have suggested that facial scarifications, including naso-pharyngeal deterioration, are associated with highland crops such as potatoes rather than with the environment of the jungle, f~~ Furthermore, since nasal involvement is delayed, sometimes for decades, the association with the jungle would by no means be obvious. Second, if the Incas did connect espundia with the Montafia, they had a much more sophisticated nosology and etiology of leishmaniasis than did modern medicine until very recently. It was not until the second decade of this century that doctors recognized that espundia and uta were two distinct forms of leishmaniasis, ~1~ and the etiology of the two is still being worked out. Third, the few studies of espundia which exist indicate that the incidence of the disease is very low even in endemic areas, and the vector of espundia in the Amazon Basin seems to be associated with a microhabitat

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peculiar to primary forest. Once the initial land clearing has been done, people have very little exposure to the disease. Although there is evidence from Brazil that the sandfly vector is found in secondary forest, as long as the land remained cleared, this was not a problem. Terraced land, such as that in the Inambari valley, [1~ would probably have remained clear of primary forest for a very long time, since people are unlikely to terrace land that is only going to be cultivated for a short time. Thus, if the Incas did understand the cause of espundia, they may have recognized high-risk locations within the jungle and avoided them. The cultural practices Gade attributes to an avoidance of leishmaniasis can be explained by other factors. Periodic and seasonal, as opposed to full time, occupation of the Montafia by Andean peoples are best understood in terms of their adaptation to a vertical environment. [l~ Gade [1~ refers to Webster's LH~ study of the Q'ero and points out that huts in the Montana were used for only a short period of time, implying that this was because of avoidance of espundia. Webster's explanation, that the people stayed in the highlands for longer periods, and regarded them as their permanent home, because alpacas needed more attention and had to be in the highlands, whereas corn, grown in the Montafia, needed little attention, is more plausible. The failure of the Incas to conquer large expanses of the eastern lowlands of Peru is no longer an enigma. They did indeed, as Gade acknowledges, control production zones in the Montafia, particularly for the production of coca which was vital to the functioning of the administrative system of the Inca state. 11~3 Although disease may have been a factor which discouraged more extensive colonization of the Amazon, it was probably a minor obstacle. A more complete explanation lies in an understanding of Inca administrative policies. State expansion favoured conquest of densely populated areas with established administrative hierarchies over areas with sparse populations. Such populations, as Topic and Topic f~21 have suggested, would have been relatively easy to administer and would have provided a large labour force for the mita (labour tax). The grand puzzle, which is gradually being solved through archaeological and ethnohistorical research, is not why the Incas failed to extend the boundaries of their empire in any particular direction, but how they managed to control and administer their vast territory.

Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary Acknowledgements We would like to thank Ralph Lainson for reading and commenting extensively on an earlier version of this paper. We are also grateful to Charles Hastings, Warren DeBoer, Daniel Gade, Brenda Kennedy and anonymous reviewers for their comments. We are, of course, responsible for any errors, omissions or misinterpretations. The figures were drawn by Barry MacDonnell.

Notes [1] Daniel W. Gade, Inca and Colonial settlement, eoca cultivation and endemic disease in the tropical forest Journal o f Historical Geography 5 (1979) 263-79 [2] Ibid. 263 [3] Ibid. 269 [4] Ibid. 274 [5] M. O. Tamayo, La uta en el Per/1 Boletin de la Sociedad Geogrdfica de Lima 25 (1909); O.

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Klotz and H. Lindenburg, The pathology of leishmaniasis of the nose American Journal of Tropical Medicine 3 (1923) 117-41 [6] R. Lainson and J. J. Shaw, Leishmaniasis in the New World: taxonomic problems British Medical Bulletin 28 (1972) 46-7 [7] Sir Patrick Manson, P. E. C. Manson-Bahr, and F. I. C. Apted (eds). Manson's tropical diseases, eighteenth ed. (London 1982) [8] R. Lainson, The American leishmaniases some observations on their ecology and epidemiology Transactions of the Royal Society o f Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 77 (1983) 569 96 [9] Lainson and Shaw "Leishmaniasis in the New World" op. cit. [101 Manson et al. op. cit Fig. 7.1 [11] Lainson op. cit. 573 [12] Manson et al. op. cit; B. C. Walton, D. A. Pearson, and R. Bernstein, Leishmaniasis in the U.S. military in the Canal Zone American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 17 (1968) 20 [13] Lainson and Shaw "Leishmaniasis in the New World" op. cit. [14] Manson et. al. op. cit. [15] Lainson op, cit. [16] Lainson ibid. 586 [17] Ibid.; R. D. Ward, J. J. Shaw, R. Lainson, and H. Fraiha, Leishmaniasis in Brazil VIII. Observations on the Phlebotiminae fauna of an area highly endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Serra dos Carajas, Para State Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 67 (1973) 174-83 [18] Klotz and Lindenberg op. cit. [19] Ibid.; T. H. Davey and T. Wilson, Davey and Lightbody's the control o f disease in the tropics (London 1965); R, Lainson and J. J. Shaw, Leishmaniasis in Brazil Transactions o f the Royal Society o f Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 64 (1970) 654-67 [20] Davey and Wilson op. cit; Manson et. al. op. cit.; Lainson et. al. op. cit. [21] D. C. Aston and A. P. Thorley, Leishmaniasis in central Brazil: results of a Montenegro skin test survey among Amerindians in the Xingu National Park Transactions o f the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 64 (1970) 671-8; Lainson et. al. op. eit. [22] Klotz and Lindenberg op. cit.; Paul Williams, Phlebotomine sandflies and leishmaniasis in British Honduras (Belize) Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 64 (1970) 317-64; Walton et. al. op. cit. [23] Ward et. al. op. cit. [24] Lainson op. cit. [25] Howard A. Christensen and Ana Maria de Vasquez, The tree-buttress biotope: a pathobiocenose of Leishmania braziliensis American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 31 (1982) 243-51 [26] Lainson op. cit. [27] Ibid. 582 [28] Klotz and Lindenberg op. cir. 667 [29] Aston and Thorley op. cit. [30] Gade op. cit. [31] J. Kirwin Werner and Paolo Barreto, Leishmaniasis in Brazil: a review American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 30 (1981) 751-61 [32] Earl Baldwin McKinley, A geography of disease, supplement to American Journal of Tropical Medicine 15 (1935) [33] Lainson op. cit. [34] Aguilar (1981) cited in Lainson op. cit. [35] B. C. Walton and Luis Valverde, Racial differences in espundia Annals of tropical medicine and parasitology 73 (1979) 23-9 [36] Philippe Desjeux, Relations leishmaniose et altitude en Bolivie: Donnes epidemiologiques et formes cliniques apropos de 113 cas Anthropologie des populations andines. Les Colloques de l'Institute National de la Sante et de la Recherche MedicaIe Paris (1976) 247-56 [37] Ibid. 251 [38] Ibid.; Lainson op. cit. 586 [39] Arce, Las leishmaniasis dermicas del Peril Boletin de la SociedadGeogrglfica de Lima 32 (1916) 15 68 [40] Ibid. 47-8 [41] Gade op. cit.

128 [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48]

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Tamayo op. eit.; J. Acre op cit. Williams op. cit. Gade op. cit. 272 Aston and Thorley op. cit. Ralph Lainson personal communication, 1985 Gade op. cit. 274 Ibid. 268; Rodrigo de Loaisa, Memorial de las cosas del piru tocantes a los Indios pp. 554-605 of M. del Fuensanta del Valle, Madrid 5 de mayo de 1586 Colecion de documentos ineditios para la historia de Espa~a 94 (1889) [49] Ibid. 593 [50] Ibid. 600; G. Lohman Villena, Las ordenanzas de la coca del Conde de Nieva 1563 Jahrbuch fiir Geschichte yon Staat. Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Lateinamerikas 4 (1967) 281-302 [51] J. H. Rowe, Inca culture at the time of the Spanish Conquest, pp. 183 330 of J. H. Steward, Handbook of South American Indians Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143 2 (Washington, D.C. 1946); W. LaBarre, The Aymara Indians of the Lake Titicaca plateau, Bolivia American Anthropological Association Memoir 68 (Menasha Ill. 1948) [52] Tamayo op. cit. [53] Ibid. 26 [54] Acre op. cit. [55] Stephen B. Brush, Man's use of an Andean ecosystem Human Ecology 4 (1976) 147-66; Stephen S. Webster, An indigenous Quechua community in exploitation of multiple ecological zones Actas y memorias del X X X I X Congresso Internaeional de Americanistas 3 (Lima 1971) 174-80 [56] Tamayo op. cit. 17; Gade op. cit. 272 [57] Lainson op. cit. 569 [58] Ibid. 569 [59] Tamayo op. cit. 5-17 [60] R. N. Salaman, Deformities and mutilations of the face as depicted in the Chimu pottery of Peru Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 69 (1939) 109 22 [61] Ibid. [62] Pedro Weiss, La asociacion de la Uta y Verruga Peruana en los mitos de la papa, figurados en la ceramica Mochica y Shimu Revista del Museo Naeional 30 (1961) 65-77 [63] Leon Goldman, Types of American cutaneous leishmaniasis~ermatological aspects: a review American Journal o f Tropical Medicine 27 (1947) 561-84; Orlando Canizares (Ed.), Clinical tropical dermatology (Oxford 1975) [64] Weiss op. cit. [65] Calvin Wells Bones, bodies and disease (London 1964) [66] Salaman op. cit. [67] Weiss op. cit. [68] Ibid. 68 [69] Lainson and Shaw "Leishmaniasis in the New World" op. cit.; Gade op. cit. [70] Weiss op. cit. [71] Ibid. [72] Salaman op. cit. [73] Weiss op. cit. [74] Gade op. cit. 274 [75] Salaman op. cit. [76] Weiss op. cit. [77] Gade op. cit, 276 [78] C. M. Hastings, Highland settlements in eastern forests, Late Intermediate occupation of the central ceja de Montaffa Manuscript on file, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor 1983) [79] Webster op. cit. [80] J. Scott Raymond, The cultural remains from the Granja de Sivia, Peru: an archaeological study of Tropical Forest Culture in the Montafia (unpubl. Ph.D dissertation, Univ. of Illinois 1972); idem. Late prehistoric and historic settlements in the upper Montafia of Peru, pp. 20514 of P. L. Shinnie, J. Robertson and F. J. Kense, A symposium on Canadian archaeology abroad (Calgary 1976)

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[81] J. Scott Raymond, Quechuas y chunchos: ethnic boundaries in eastern Peru, pp. 39-50 of M. Thompson, M. T. Garcia and F. Kense, Status, structure and stratification (Calgary 1985) [82] J. Scott Raymond, A consideration of the economic importance of the Montafia to the Huari Empire, paper presented to the 1981 meetings of the American Anthropological Association, Los Angeles [83] D. Bonavia, Investigaciones en la ceja de selva de Ayacucho: Informe de la primera expedici6n cientifica Huamanga Arqueoldgicas, Publieaciones del Instituto de lnvestigaciones Antropol6gicas No. 6 Museo Nacional de Antropologia y Arqueologia (Lima 1964) [84] Raymond "Late prehistoric" op. cit. [85] Jose B. Samanez Ocampo, Exploracidn de los rios Apurimac, Ene, Tambo, Urubamba y Ucayali, 1883-1884 Coleccidn de leyes, decretos, resoluciones y otros documentos oficiales referentes al departamiento de Loreto Vol XI (Lima 1907) [86] Roderick E. Burchard, Myths of the sacred leaf: ecological perspectives on coca and peasant biocultural adaptation in Peru (unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana Univ. 1976) [87] Patricia J. Lyon, An imaginary frontier: prehistoric highland-lowland interchange in the southern Peruvian Andes, pp. 3 18 ofP. D. Francis, F. J. Kense and P. Duke, Networks of the Past (Calgary 1981) [88] Ibid. [89] Gene Savoy, Antisuyo. the search for the lost cities of the Amazon (New York 1970) [90] Ibid. 128 [91] W. H. Isbell, New discoveries in the Montafia of southeastern Peru Archaeology 21 (1968) 108-14 [92] Ibid. 114 [93] I. Ortiz de Zufiiga, Visita de la provincia de Le6n de Hu~muco en 1562 (Hufinuco 1967) [94] G. Diez de San Miguel, Visita de la provincia de Chucuito por Garci Diez de San Miguel en el afro 1567 (Lima 1964) [95] J. V. Murra, An Aymara kingdom in 1567 Ethnohistory (1968) 115-51; idem., El control vertical de un maximo de pisos ecol6gicos en la economia de las sociedades Andinas Visita de Zuffiga, Vistador II: 429-76 (Hufinuco 1972) [96] J. Golte, Algunas consideraciones de la producci6n y distribuci6n de la coca en el estado Inca Verhandlungen des X X X V I I I Internationalen Amerikanisten Kongress Stuttgart-Mfinchen, August 1968, II (Munich 1970) 471-8 [97] See for example, Brush op. cir., Webster op. cit.; A. Camino, Trueque, correrias e intercambios entre los Quechuas Andinos y los Piro y Machiguenga de la Montafia Peruana Amazonia Peruana 1 (1977) 123~40; N. Yamamoto, A food production system in southern central Andes El hombre y su ambiente en los Andes Centrales of L. Millones and H. Tomoeda Senri Ethnological Studies No. 10 (Osaka 1982) [98] Murra op. cit. [99] Rowe op. cit. [100] Dorothy Menzel, Style and time in the Middle Horizon Nawpa Paeha 2 (1964) 1 105; idem. New data on the Huari Empire in Middle Horizon Epoch, 2a Nawpa Pacha 6 (1968) 47 114 [101] Isbell op. cir. [102] Savoy op. cir. [103] Raymond "Late prehistoric" op. eit. [104] Hastings op. cit. [105] Salaman op. cit.; Weiss op. tit. [106] Arce op. cit. [107] Isbell op. cit [108] Brush op. cit. [109] Gade op. tit. [110] Webster op. cir. [111] C. Morris, The Infrastructure of Inka control in the Peruvian Central Highlands, pp. 153-71 of G. Collier, R. I. Rosaldo and J. D. Wirth (Eds), The Inca and Aztec states 1400-1800, anthropology and history (New York 1982) [112] J. R. Topic and T. Topic, Coast highland relations in northern Peru: some speculative interpretations, pp. 55-66 of M. Thompson, M. T. Garcia and F. J. Kense (Eds), Status Structure and Stratification (Calgary 1985)