In the Andes, successive waves of Inka and Spanish imperialism reshaped local ecologies and transformed agricultural practices between the 14th and 17th centuries. As the Inka (ca. 1450–1532CE) consolidated control over the region they co-opted existing resources, directed the development of new farmland, and imposed new labor obligations on Andean people. In turn, Spanish colonizers (1533-1824CE) introduced foreign flora and fauna, created new tributary regimes, and reorganized agricultural production around forcibly resettled communities and Spanish-owned haciendas (agrarian estates). In this paper, we explore how agricultural workers managed this extended period of upheaval through analysis of botanical data from recent excavations at the site of Simapuqio-Muyupata, in Peru’s Cusco region. We track how agriculturalists living at the site altered patterns of plant use—and, by extension agricultural practice—across the period of Inka and Spanish Colonial governance. These farmers remained reliant on a similar suite of cultivated plants under both political regimes, but shifted practices of land management to conserve labor when confronted with the structural conditions of servitude to Spanish landlords. By altering agricultural practices, these agriculturalists re-shaped the agroecological context in which they lived and worked to ensure survival in the face of political upheaval.

在安第斯山脉，印加帝国主义和西班牙帝国主义的连续浪潮重塑了当地的生态，并改变了 14 世纪至 17 世纪的农业实践。随着印加人（约公元 1450-1532 年）巩固对该地区的控制，他们利用了现有资源，指导新农田的开发，并对安第斯人民施加了新的劳动义务。反过来，西班牙殖民者（公元 1533 年至公元 1824 年）引入了外国动植物群，创建了新的朝贡政权，并围绕强行重新安置的社区和西班牙人拥有的庄园（土地）重组了农业生产。在本文中，我们通过分析秘鲁库斯科地区西马普乔-穆尤帕塔遗址最近发掘的植物学数据，探讨了农业工人如何应对这段漫长的动荡时期。我们追踪了居住在该地点的农民如何改变印加和西班牙殖民统治时期的植物使用模式，以及延伸的农业实践。在这两种政治制度下，这些农民仍然依赖于类似的栽培植物，但在面临西班牙地主奴役的结构性条件时，他们改变了土地管理做法以节省劳动力。通过改变农业实践，这些农民重塑了他们生活和工作的农业生态环境，以确保在政治动荡面前生存。但在面临西班牙地主奴役的结构性条件时，改变了土地管理做法以节省劳动力。通过改变农业实践，这些农民重塑了他们生活和工作的农业生态环境，以确保在政治动荡面前生存。但在面临西班牙地主奴役的结构性条件时，改变了土地管理做法以节省劳动力。通过改变农业实践，这些农民重塑了他们生活和工作的农业生态环境，以确保在政治动荡面前生存。