The
road project is one of the principal means
by which the company is attempting to mediate potential
conflicts
with the government.
By
constructing
a major
road through the Callejón de Conchucos, a region substantially
lacking in infrastructure, the government is appeased and
the company provides
itself with an alternate means by which to transport its
product.
When
archaeologists were initially consulted about the course
of the road they demarcated certain regions of
La Banda as archaeological
protection zones.
This advise was ignored and the road crew bulldozed a Requay
complex that
later revealed over 35 intact tombs with offerings. This
blatant disregard
for the
cultural patrimony of the nation prompted the filing of
a denuncio.
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Throughout
the entire sequence of events the campesino inhabitants
of La Banda largely remained
in the dark as
to what was happening.
They
were
informed after
the bulldozers plowed through their fields that
they would not be compensated the US$300 initially
promised,
rather
one male from each
household
would be hired for a month to work on the road-crew,
thus each man would be
paid to
participate in the systematic destruction of his
own fields. Failure to comply with the demands
of the company
would
result in the firing
of all
other relatives
who worked on the road-crew.
The
initial wanton destruction of local fields infuriated
the residents of La Banda.
The local people were used
to working with the Stanford
Archaeologists, who generally opened small portions
of land and filled them back in when
the season was over, but they were not used to the
strong arm tactics of the mining
company. Although archaeologists are not allowed to
pay for the rights to
work in people’s fields, all artifacts and sites
are national patrimony, in the past the owners of the
fields were compensated for their work or
use of
storage spaces.
This
did not mean that local residents did not support the
concept of bringing a new road
to the region. A
road would finally give them
access
to external
markets for their agricultural products. The possibility
of access to a cash economy led the local residents
to take direct action against
the
archaeologists,
preventing them from working for one day in August.
The
threats against the archaeologists occurred because
the local people did not want the road to be moved
as that would simply destroy
more
fields. However,
they did not realize that preventing the Stanford
and INC archaeologists from working also prevented
the
road from
advancing as the government
had accepted
the terms of the denuncio which forbade Antamina
to continue building the La Banda section of the
road
until the rescue
work was completed.
In
an attempt to create an equitable solution the archaeologists
invited the head of the Instituto
Nacional de Cultura
and the First Lady, a
Stanford alum,
to visit the site and discuss options for how
to protect the site. One possible solution was to
turn the La
Banda region into an archaeological
park while
still allowing the local residents to farm on
their fields. This option also included suggestions as
to where to
place the road in
order to
minimize
damage
to future sites. This option is still being considered.
Conclusion?
Tour
guides employed in the ceremonial center were fond
of framing the issue as a classical
dichotomy: la
cultura o el progresso. As is often the case with dichotomies
these two choices did not fully encompass the complexity
of the situation. Culture is not a static element to
be preserved for its own sake, nor is progress entirely
contingent upon ignoring the past. The ancient peoples
of Chavín are a prime example of this lesson.
In order to expand and construct the main sunken plaza
they changed the course of Mosna River yet they still
maintained a key cultural element to the site, its proximity
to a tinku (joining point of two rivers). Progress and
culture do not have to be in opposition.
At the end of August neither the archaeologists nor
the mining company had finished their projects. It remains
to be seen whether or not the multiple interest groups
involved in the project can reach an amenable solution.
For all of the archaeologists involved in the project
this summer was a prime introduction to the politics
of development and the practice of rescue archaeology.
