Antiques, Intellectuals and Region. The Archaeological Museum of Cusco and the Incasian Contraptions of a Literate City (1909-1930)

Velásquez S.L. · Futuro del Pasado (2025) · DOI: 10.14201/fdp.31784

Resumen

The collection of objects coming from ancient Peru represented, even from the early colonial establishment, prestige and enlightenment among their owners. These antiquities acquired an important symbolic value due to their link with the «glorious» empire of the Incas, which is why, in republican times, it was important to establish several museums that could house these pieces and link them to the historical foundations and official narratives of the nation. In this sense, this article reflects on the conformation and functioning of the Archaeological Museum of Cusco and the repercussions that originated after its foundation. To achieve this objective, we study the discourses and practices of Cusco’s political leaders and intellectuals, through extensive information gathered from the local press and press archive, as well as important documentation from historical archives in Cusco and Lima. Finally, our study proposes that the establishment of the museum materialized the first major capitalization of pre-Hispanic antiquities in Cusco under public (university) ownership, thus managing to promote the Incanist discourse as a necessary way to consolidate Cusco regionalism and affirm the city as a literate city, while its managers were legitimized and prestigious in the political and intellectual spheres, both within and outside the regional parameters.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco