Publicaciones

The narrative that attributes the Inca road system solely to state administrative purposes is simplistic. This paper challenges that perspective, emphasizing the significant role of local populations in shaping these networks. By introducing the concepts of “trace” and “route,” it reveals how roads reflect both short-term adjustments and the long-term construction of territorial dynamics. The analysis argues against viewing road networks as solely driven by centralized state policies, urging a more nuanced understanding of the complex and ongoing negotiations involving various actors. The paper contends that the oversimplification of road networks as products of centralized decisions neglects the dynamic role of local communities in their establishment, maintenance, and use. 

G. Marcone, "The roads of power and the paths of the people: Reconfiguring communities and territories from pre-Hispanic Andean roads to modern Peruvian highways", Journal of Social Archaeology, Vol. 0(0) pp. 1–24, 2025, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14696053251348221 

Conservation of textiles is indubitably a delicate and relevant matter, as its focus is to preserve pieces that carry unmeasurable historical value. This work aims to evaluate the impact of washing and aging processes in the conservation of archaeological textiles. The samples used are Peruvian textiles found in the Museum of Site and Archeological Sanctuary of Pachacamac, located in the Lurín district, city of Lima, Perú. Evaluated parameters were changes in tonality by conducting surface analysis through scanning electron microscopy and image processing, determining the crystallinity index using the X-ray diffraction method, analyzing surface properties via X-ray energy dispersion spectroscopy, and mechanical properties by tensile testing.

M. J. Alván, S. Candiotti, E. Flores, and S. Charca, “Impact of washing and aging process on the physical and mechanical properties of pre-Hispanic fabrics found in the Museum of Site and Archeological Sanctuary of Pachacamac, Perú,” Journal of Cultural Heritage, vol. 67, pp. 360–367, May 2024, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2024.03.020 

Around 150 BCE and 700 CE, pre-Columbian goldsmiths in the Peruvian northern coastline developed a method for gilding copper. The characteristics of the resulting pieces are substantially different from those obtained by hammering, embossing, and casting. We discuss two electrochemical gilding methods that were possibly developed by pre-Columbian goldsmiths. The first method consists of electrochemical replacement where copper is immersed in a solution containing dissolved gold. The second method utilizes the same solution but includes pyrite to form a galvanic cell with copper as the cathode and pyrite as the anode. Characterizations via X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersion spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) allowed a comparison of the results of the two methods with archaeological samples. 

A. Alviz-Meza, D.A. Chipoco Haro, J. Tello-Hijar, M.I. Velarde, C. Benndorf, J.C. Rodríguez-Reyes, and S. Ismat Shah, “A pre-Columbian galvanic technique able to explain the gilding of copper in northern Peru,” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Vol. 47, p. 103818, Jan. 2023, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103818 

La vista humana es capaz de percibir solo una pequeña fracción del espectro electromagnético, que se conoce como «luz visible». El resto del espectro solo se puede captar a través de imágenes o datos numéricos. De este modo, al aplicar herramientas científicas a obras de arte, se revela una información invisible que contiene las huellas del tiempo, la historia, la materia y la técnica. Más importante aún, estas herramientas nos ayudan a cuestionar la comprensión que teníamos previamente de cada obra de arte.

A. De Leo and D. Castillo, "in_visibλe El Arte Visto por la Ciencia: Museo Pedro de Osma,"  ILLAPA Mana Tukukuq: Revista del Instituto de Investigaciones Museológicas y Artísticas de la Universidad Ricardo Palma, 20 (20): 156-157, 2023, Disponible en: https://revistas.urp.edu.pe/index.php/Illapa/article/view/6249/9761 

Color is an important heritage asset property, giving value and life to historical objects. Colonial paintings require management and control since their constitutive pigments are susceptible to physical and chemical changes due to weather and pollutant conditions. In this regard, simulation and experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to determine the aging and composition of a selected mural painting from the colonial period of Cusco, Peru. As a result, hematite is suggested as the pigment used in the mural painting. Meanwhile, Cusco's low humidity environmental conditions in certain seasons favor the transformation of hematite to goethite, modifying the original color of paintings. This research aims to understand the material deterioration of pigments from heritage objects as input for future studies pursuing conservation strategies.

Alviz-Meza A., Iglesias L., Castillo D., De Leo A., Torres-Salazar E., and Orozco-Agamez J., "Study of Pigments of Peruvian Colonial Mural Painting Through Chemical Analysis and Under Simulated Conditions for Aiming Cultural Heritage Care," Chemical Engineering Transactions, 98, 261-266, 2023, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3303/CET2398044. 

The exploitation of metals such as silver and copper has been the basis of the economic and socio-cultural development of multiple Andean societies such as Peru. Vestiges of the main centers of colonial metallurgy are known for their exhibition at various points of the Andean baroque route. However, exist doubts about the constituent minerals that these objects may drag. A record of trace metals emitted during smelting operations are useful to estimate their quality and provenance. In this approach, we found viceroyalty silver objects with only copper as a tracer metal, in Ag/Cu ratios from 9 to 34.85. The crystalline system of both metals was found to be cubic in one object while other objects indicated amorphous phases for both elements. This type of research has the potential to be extended with other characterization techniques such as lead isotopic analysis, leading to the determination of the provenance of pieces today ubicated at Cusco.

Alviz-Meza A., De-Leo A., Barandiaran-Gamarra J., Torres-Salazar E., Orozco-Agamez J., "Study of Silver Used in Peruvian Viceroyalty Objects through Chemical Analysis," Chemical Engineering Transactions, 98, 267-272, 2023, DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3303/CET2398045  

Cultural heritage assets represent the history and unique identity for every nation in the world, so their protection and conservation are mandatory tasks. However, although such assets are usually exhibited in special museum rooms, sometimes the environmental conditions may be modified, putting the materials at risk. These facts can be more severe in warehouses, where environmental conditions can vary even more. Most of the measurement sites are located in spaces that make it difficult or do not allow the handling of commercial devices for measuring multiple environmental parameters, either due to their size, energy consumption or because they cannot be connected to the internet, so there is no timely availability of information on the environmental condition in which they are found. 

A. Hinostroza and J. Tarrillo, “Wireless Sensor Network for Environmental Monitoring of Cultural Heritage,” in Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Sensor Networks SENSORNETS, pages 171-175, Jan. 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5220/0010916700003118 

Even though funding for culture and heritage-related projects is normally scarce, it is even more difficult to find in times of crisis. One option to fund heritage protection is the acquisition of research and development funds, which usually require tangible achievements or an explicit link to socio-economic development. The Research Center for Heritage Conservation in Lima, Peru, adopted the value-chain model from the business management sector to evaluate and determine the convenience of embarking on a conservation project. This value-chain for heritage follows three stages: Identification and evaluation, conservation, and dissemination of results, to pave the way for the development of sustainable practices in collections management.

A. Isa-Adaniya, A. Alviz-Meza, and J. C. F. Rodriguez-Reyes, “A Value-Chain Model for Research in Heritage Conservation: The Research Center for Heritage Conservation in Lima, Peru,” Studies in Conservation, vol. 67, no. sup1, pp. 112–121, May 2022, DOI:                                 https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2022.2051958 

Pre-Columbian Peruvian goldsmiths developed gilded copper-based objects by ancient techniques that require identification to propose conservation strategies. Lechtman H, conducted experiments to suggest that the electrochemical replacement was the gilding technique used by the Moche and Vicus cultural groups. Despite her remarkable achievement, the quantitative data provided by her is still open to discussion. This work focused on obtaining experimental data to recreate her protocol by introducing less gold precursor. Polished copper pieces were plated with an adherent gold film of up to 7.5 µm after immersing them into an electrolytic solution for 3 min and 6 min at 80 °C. Our results demonstrated that the electrochemical replacement technique gives rise to anodic regions in the plated objects.

A Alviz-Meza, C. Haro, and M. I. Velarde, “Scientific insights of electrochemical replacement approach to describe the origin of Pre-Columbian Peruvian gilded copper-based objects,” Journal of Physics Conference Series, vol. 2118, no. 1, p. 012015, Nov. 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2118/1/012015 

Cultural heritage materials are affected by diverse environmental agents such as humidity, temperature, and pollution. This work focuses on studying the thermodynamic stability of Peruvian heritage materials such as gilded coppers and pigments within two scenarios: one under ambient conditions and the other under accelerated conditions established by the ASTM D 2247 standard. These changes also modify the natural colour of pigments, where goethite gives rise to a brownish red, mercury sulfate is colorless and lead nitrate is white. This paper is a quick theoretical way to understand how cultural heritage materials can physically degrade. Future experiment trials will contribute to set strategies towards the correct management of these heritage collections.

A. Alviz-Meza, J. C. F. Rodríguez-Reyes, and J. A. Chacaliaza, “Thermodynamic stability of gilded copper and pigments at high relative humidity and at environmental conditions of Lima, Perú,” Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 1938, no. 1, p. 012003, May 2021, DOI:                      https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1938/1/012003 

La historia de la platería peruana ha estado presente en un importante grupo de publicaciones, entre artículos y libros gruesos que han hecho una revisión estilística y documental, con cata ́logos de piezas ordenadas y clasificadas en un cuidado desarrollo cronológico que dan cuenta de la gran producción artística de platería labrada del virreinato. En estos volúmenes se revisa el tema desde un punto de vista que subraya los nombres propios de artífices, la elocuente producción minera de la región y, en el más reciente de estos libros relacionado con la exposición realizada en el MALI, el detallado texto de Carmen Heredia ofrece una interesante revisión sobre las obras peruanas legadas en el periodo virreinal a las parroquias españolas. 

J. A. De Leo, "La platería cuzqueña para la Divina Gloria... en tiempos del obispo Mollinedo y Angulo," Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, Vol. 3, No 4, pp. 125–133. Electronic ISSN: 2576-0947, Oct 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2021.3.4.125 

Esta colección de ensayos del número 3.4 de los Diálogos Thoma continúa difundiendo las investigaciones que se realizaron en el contexto del Congreso de Arte Virreinal: el futuro del arte del pasado, un simposio internacional celebrado en Lima, Perú, en julio del 2019. En los presentes Diálogos Thoma, se da continuación a las conversaciones académicas hemisféricas e internacionales que se iniciaron en ese año, las cuales se publicaron parcialmente en el número 3.3 de Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture. Los ensayos de ambos números pretenden contribuir a las transformaciones teóricas y metodológicas de nuestro campo, que han creado nuevas y dinámicas trayectorias que permiten discutir la historia del arte virreinal, así como la cultura visual del Perú y de América Latina.

D. Castillo, "La imagen del Niño de Praga del Templo de Andahuaylillas, Cusco: develando su antigua devoción desde la materialidad y la historia del arte," Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, Vol. 3, No 4, pp. 116–124, Oct 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2021.3.4.116 

Esta colección de ensayos, junto con los del próximo número 3.4, presenta algunas de las ponencias del Congreso de Arte Virreinal: el futuro del arte del pasado, un simposio internacional celebrado en Lima (Perú) en 2019. Organizado por la Dra. Katherine Moore McAllen y Verónica Muñoz-Nájar Luque, el evento fue financiado por la Fundación Carl & Marilynn Thoma, y contó con veinticuatro conferencias dictadas en el Centro Cultural Ccori Wasi de la Universidad Ricardo Palma. Los trabajos, que han sido coeditados por McAllen y Muñoz-Nájar, se publican actualmente como Diálogos Thoma con el fin de dar a conocer nuevas investigaciones que examinan la diversidad de perspectivas en la cultura visual del virreinato. 

L. Iglesias, "La Virgen María como celestial aurora que venció y salvó a los incas", Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, Vol. 3, No 3, pp. 115–123, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2021.3.3.115 

Las pinturas de la colección Thoma revelan cómo fue que entre los siglos XVI y XIX, la producción artística encarnó las respuestas que los artistas andinos dieron a tradiciones locales y las expresiones de su cultura e identidad para representar paisajes y sistemas de representación peruanos que valoraban las costumbres horiundas de la región. Pinturas como la Huída a Egipto de la Colección Thoma reflejan el estilo exclusivo de la Escuela Cusqueña, al incluir abundante flora local y pájaros fantásticos dentro de un marco de montañas dramáticas y un paisaje escarpado, evocando un terreno familiar para la audiencia andina.

K.  M. McAllen and V. Muñoz-Najar, "Arte regional y nuevas interpretaciones en el Perú virreinal," Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, Vol. 3, No 4, pp. 72–79, Oct 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2021.3.4.72 

This paper focus on a set of religious images, chronicles and staging relations to research two of the ways in which Muslims were represented in the Andes: as defeated and as infidels. Analyzing some relevant cases in line with both conceptions advances our understandings of the local heritage and resignification of a set of visual and literary resources. Tied to precise senses in the European tradition, those resourses were effective to serve discursive legitimation and preach purposes in the the Peruvian Viceroyalty scenario.

L. Iglesias, “Vencidos e infieles. Dos aproximaciones a la representación del musulmán en el Virreinato del Perú,” Eikon / Imago, vol. 9, pp. 183–208, Jul. 2020, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/eiko.73294 

This study hypothesises that Andean traditional knowledge of the use of plants as dissuasive agents against agricultural pests can be repurposed to protect organic cultural heritage in Peru. Andean lupin (Lupinus mutabilis Sweet), known locally as tarwi, contains secondary plant metabolites, such as quinolizidine alkaloids, that act as defensive chemical compounds against predators. This investigation extracts the active compounds responsible for pest repellence in tarwi and tests them directly on the beetle Tricorynus herbarius (Gorham, 1883), which the project entomologists sampled, identified and reared for this purpose. Semi-quantitative experiments were carried out to test the repellent effect of hydroalcoholic extracts from tarwi leaves and seeds. Spectral scan analyses on tarwi effluents tested positive for alkaloid presence. Results suggest that tarwi leaf hydroalcoholic extracts are effective repelling agents against T. herbarius.

A. Isa, C. Parada, M. Palomino and E. Quispitupac, “Preserving Peruvian organic cultural heritage using Andean lupin (Lupinus mutabilis) extracts,” ICON Conference, pp. 49–55, May. 2021, URL: https://www.icon.org.uk/resource/preserving-peruvian-organic-cultural-heritage-using-andean-lupin-lupinus-mutabilis-extracts.html