Sonia Alconini Explained

Sonia Alconini
Birth Name:Sonia Alconini Mujica
Birth Date:1965
Nationality:Bolivian
Occupation:Archaeologist

Sonia Alconini Mujica (born 1965) is a Bolivian anthropologist and archaeologist specializing in the socioeconomic and political development of early states and empires in the Andes. She has studied the dynamics of ancient imperial frontiers, and the ways in which Guarani tropical tribes expanded over these spaces. She has also conducted work in the eastern Bolivian valleys and Lake Titicaca region.

Biography

Sonia Alconini Mujica was born 1965 in Bolivia and developed an early interest in the political formations of early Andean societies and the use of archaeology to improve the understanding of cultural relationships. In 1992, she participated in the Taraco Archaeological Project of UC Berkeley at Chiripa, an ongoing project aimed at unraveling the socioeconomic and political development of the Formative Period of the Lake Titicaca basin. Pottery shards excavated at the site were from Chiripa, Chiripa-Mamani, and Tiwanaku III, IV, and V phases of civilization.[1] She completed her undergraduate degree in 1993 from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz and went on to study at the University of Pittsburgh, earning a master's degree in anthropology in 2000 and a PhD in archaeology in 2002. In 2004, Alconini was hired as an assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio and in 2010, she was promoted to an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology.[2]

Her early research focused on the spread of the Inka into the Bolivian highlands and their impact on the civilizations already in the area, showing interaction between cultures rather than domination. She won a US National Science Foundation grant in 2007 to further explore the boundaries of the Inka expansion and clarify changes before and after Inka contact. The aim of the project was to determine how contact with the Inka effected settlement patterns and the political economy of the area.[3] In 2009, Alconini's excavations in the Charazani valley, the ancient imperial center of the Kallawayas, at a site called Pata Kaata yielded new insights into the evolution of the area, the range of activities which took place in its sacred sites, the process used to maintain political legitimacy and the hierarchy of the cultures at the borders of Lake Titicaca.[4] In 2013, her collaboration with Sara Becker of the University of California at Riverside at the Wata Wata site, uncovered three skulls, two belonging to women. Examination showed ritual acts of violence, including beheading and removal of the eyes with no sign of battle injury. The discovery scuttled a long-held belief that images of violence were not literal depictions but were illustrative.[5] Alconini's assessment of the evidence concluded that the inhabitants of Tiwanaku empire in the Kallawaya region of Bolivia, used trade, religion, and ritual violence as political strategies to retain power.[6]

Selected works

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hastorf. Christine A.. Preliminary Report on the 1992 excavations at Chiripa, Bolivia by the Taraco Archaeological Project. Page 1 eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. Archaeological Research Facility UC Berkeley. 7 November 2015. Berkeley, California. 1 December 1992.
  2. Web site: Investigadores / Arqueología / Sonia Alconini (Ph D.). Saberes Bolivianos. 7 November 2015. es. 2011.
  3. Web site: Imperial Marginality and Frontier: Kallawayas and Chunchos in the Eastern Inka Borders. National Science Foundation. 7 November 2015. Arlington, Virginia. 16 January 2007.
  4. News: La presencia Inka en el valle de Charazani, Incallajta y Paria. 7 November 2015. Periódico Digital de Investigación sobre Bolivia. 3 August 2009. La Paz, Bolivia. es.
  5. News: Killgrove. Kristina. Gruesome Evidence Of Political Torture Found On Precolumbian Skulls. 7 November 2015. Forbes. 17 May 2015. Jersey City, New Jersey.
  6. News: La violencia ritual tuvo un papel crucial en Tiahuanaco. 7 November 2015. Informador. 2 November 2013. Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. es.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sonia Alconini".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.