ENTRE LOS RÍOS: INTER-VALLEY MOBILITY ON THE FAR SOUTHERN COAST OF PERU (AD 1000-1930)

Resumen: Recent archaeological field work in Tacna (Peru) has investigated the long-term landscape history of the Sama Valley. Located between the research hotspots of Moquegua and Arica, the valley has long been overlooked. At the same time, it is well positioned to offer new insights into debates about mobility, environment, and the transforming political economies of the Late Prehispanic and historic periods. This article presents an initial analysis of recent data on the long-term patterns of connectivity that articulated the Sama drainage with neighboring valleys and wider networks. Based on a combination of remote sensing and intensive pedestrian survey data, it is possible to trace multiple routes through the inter-valley desert pampas that border the middle and lower Sama Valley. The results highlight the utility of intensive survey methods in marginal intervalley landscapes and reveal a complex palimpsest of routes and ephemeral sites relating to regional and inter-regional mobility during the Late Prehispanic and historical periods.