Juan’s dissertation research studies migration in the Bolivian tropical mountains when small-scale Mojocoya societies interacted with the pan-Andean Tiwanaku State (ca. CE 600-900). Moving beyond vertical control models assuming that highland-based societies controlled lower areas through direct migration practices, Juan proposes that lowland-based communities articulated long-distance networks with the highlands using multiple migration strategies without the intervention of a State. He uses biodistance, cranial modification, and isotope analyses on multi-sited cranial collections to assess biological and cultural relatedness within and between the ecologically distinct tropical mountains, eastern valleys, and altiplano (i.e., high, flat plain) regions. The 2022 AIA-OC Grant will be used to run isotope analysis on selected dental and bone samples to identify potential migrants, their points of origin, and mobility patterns using spatial and temporal scales. The results will expand the understanding of migration strategies negotiated between small-scale societies and the State in the pre-contact Andes. From a broader perspective, Juan’s research will situate the tropical mountains into larger discussions of migration at the subcontinental level.

Juan Carlos Chavez Quispe is an indigenous Ph.D. student at UC Riverside and a research associate at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. He earned his Licenciatura degree in Archaeology from UMSA (2010), a Master’s degree in Ecumenical Studies from Université de Geneve (2012), and a Master’s degree in Anthropology from UCR (2020). Juan’s multidisciplinary approach draws from archaeology, ethnohistory, and social theory to discuss cultural interaction and biological relatedness in transition zones across his home country, Bolivia. His scholarship contributes to telling the stories of past and present-day indigenous peoples inhabiting contrasting environments ranging from the Andean highlands to the Amazonian lowlands.