THE COMPULSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF HERITAGE: MATERIAL CULTURE AND IDENTITY AT THE DAWN OF THE 21ST CENTURY IN NORTHWESTERN ARGENTINA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dante A. Angelo July 2010 © 2010 by Dante Alejandro Angelo Zelada. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/bd264ms1829 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Ian Hodder, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Lynn Meskell I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Michael Wilcox I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Rafael Curtoni Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives. iii Abstract This dissertation is a study of the different social and cultural processes experienced in Quebrada de Humahuaca, northwestern Argentina. Drawing on a combination of archaeological and ethnographical methods, this study follows different practices and experiences in which people and material culture have engaged through discourses of heritage and the uses of the past, resulting from the region’s inclusion as part of the World Heritage sites list. By introducing the concept of compulsion, this dissertation explores heritage as a pathological disorder that becomes manifested in people’s everyday interaction with material culture producing a myriad of contexts in which notions of the past, modernity, and identity intersect. Heritage, therefore, is identified as one the main factors in the production of material culture and social practices through processes of commodification, reproduction/replication, preservation and sublimation. Understood as a compulsion, heritage is observed as the result of an irresistible impulse in the production and representation of different settings in which heritage is performatively expressed. By discussing heritage as compulsion, this dissertation highlights the tensions between structure and practice, global and local, authentic and inauthentic, and provides an alternative perspective based on an analysis that focuses on the dynamic and mutually constitutive relation involved in the production of material culture and identity. Working in the intersection of archaeology and ethnography, this research focuses on the documentation of the changes expressed in the material culture of Quebrada de Humahuaca, the elaborated production and staging of heritage, and the nuanced notions of ethnicity and subjectivity that are now reconfiguring the character of Argentina as a modern nation. As part of this reconfiguration, the processes of re- centering a previously historically marginal region constitutes itself as a fundamental axis upon which the image of a modern, multicultural and democratic nation is built through a hectic and obsessive production and consumption of cultural difference. iv Dedicated to my family… v Acknowledgments I would like to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to professors Ian Hodder, Lynn Meskell, Michael Wilcox and Rafael “Pampa” Curtoni who, as part of my committee, showed me always signs of patience, forbearance and support, having to go through countless manuscripts and drafts. As my main advisor, Ian Hodder was always supportive of my decisions, and gave me carte blanche to explore my own paths in archaeology, allowing me to wander through themes and issues I initially did not suspect to explore but that, eventually, became the central endeavors of my graduate education. Similarly, Lynn Meskell with the energy that characterizes her, provided me with constant support and constantly demanded me to get the best of myself, which - at times - was something hard to keep up with, but that is another story. Mike Wilcox and Rafa Curtoni offered a friendly hand and academic support ever since we first met, at Stanford and Catamarca, Argentina, respectively, and I hope to keep this going on in the future. Their comments and friendly guidance helped me to shape my ideas better and always encouraged me to think in innovative was. Since my incorporation to the Archaeology Center at Stanford University, conversations with Michael Shanks, Martin Hall, Alfredo González-Ruibal, Barb Voss, Ewa Domanska and Tristan ‘Stringy’ Carter were crucial in opening new paths in my way of thinking. The faculty of the former department of Cultural and Social Anthropology are the responsible for awakening my interest in a more anthropologically informed perspective, although I am the only one who is responsible for the shortcomings in my aims to emulate their outstanding work; here, I would especially like to thank to Renato Rosaldo, Sylvia Yanagisako, Paola Ebron, Akhil Gupta and Purnima Mankekar. Thanks are also due to Christine Hastorf (UC Berkekely) and Clark Erickson (U Penn), who, since my undergraduate years in my native Bolivia, always showed me their bold support, encouragement and patience, trusting in what I was doing, although perhaps not liking it. Ellen and Tony Christensen warmly welcomed me and, later, my family, and always made us feel at home at their house in Palo Alto. Like many other graduate students, I was part of the itinerant group of “refugees” to whom the Christensens hosted every Easter, Thanks Giving and any other especial or ordinary time, and I enjoyed through them – bravely venturing to baseball and football games – a heartfelt introduction to American culture. Ellen was also of great support when I was abroad in what it seemed the endless part of school, by arranging for me the access to on-line libraries and so forth; my family and I think of her as part of our closest and dearest family. As for many other grad students, for me, Shelly Coughlan was a ‘guardian angel’ (as wisely put by a former fellow grad student); she provided me with her constant help, in case of trouble, and useful advice to go through grad school life. Even before I got to Stanford University, Shelly kindly took all my questions, and had to deal with my anguish and more, regarding applications, grades, taxes and all kinds of stuff. I will be eternally thankful and proud if she thinks of me as a friend as I do regard her. I am also indebted to Carmen Perkins and the staff of the Archaeology Center for their support. vi I am thankful to have landed in company of the most outstanding group of people who were part of my cohort: Ezra R. Erb, Kristin Monroe, Angel Roque, Mukta Sharangpani and Timothy Webmoor. No words can express my love and deep gratitude for their friendship and the things I have learned from all and each of them. They all were fundamental in my sanity survival through graduate school and the rushing pace of seminars and workshops, and provided me with their help in my transition to a different language, way of life and so on. No less can be said from Fernando Armstrong-Fumero who quickly became part of our family and the brother I never had. I was very lucky to meet and share my graduate life with Chiara DiCesari, Lidewegde De Jong, German V. Dziebel, Rosita Dimova, Scott Wilson, Marcia Ochoa, Tania Ahmad, Ana Bezic, Dan Contreras, Ashish Chadha, Rachel Engmann and Serena Love, all of whom conform to a disparate group of people with tremendous energy and great sense of humor, which makes them an outstanding set of the finest scholars I have ever met. I also thank Ignacio Cancino’s help in getting settled in Escondido during my last year. At the final stage of the writing, Serena Love, Adam Nazaroff and Ian Simpson made the Çatal lab a very comfy place to work for a Latin Americanist working 10.000 years apart from what is studied there, and shared their thoughts and ideas with me. Yoon-Jung Lee and Serena pulled and pushed me through the final stages; writing my last chapters were much more enjoyable with their encouragement and friendly support. I specially would like to mention Sandra Drake and Angel Roque and credit them for their enormous help in the final editing process. I also want to express my deep gratitude to John and Rosa Rick who, from the very first minute I arrived to Stanford, showed me their friendship and support and, especially, for allowing me to stay at their home, enjoying life while we waited for Oriana to arrive into our lives, she met us in the peaceful and most Californian environmental-friendly atmosphere of their home. I must include the Hernandez, Roque and Rosales families in LA for their friendship and love. In Palo Alto, Kenny Herbas, our neighbor and Bolivian friend, more than once welcomed us in his home and shared with us the taste for salteñas and the nostalgia for Bolivia. Kenny, his brother Franklin and their families, taught us that nobody is – never – too faraway from home. In Argentina, Gabriela Karasik, Humberto ‘Tiña’ Mamani, Karina Menacho, Vero Seldes, María Malena Vazquez, Pablo Mercoli and Axel Nielsen shared their hospitality and friendship, as well as long and useful conversations on different subjects about the Quebrada, its people, and its past.