Descendant Communities
A project for all.
The Haciendas of Nasca Archaeological Project works in consultation and collaboration with the towns and communities which developed out of the colonial-era Jesuit haciendas of the Nasca region.
Our work is primarily focused at the communities of San José, San Pablo, and La Banda in the District of El Ingenio (Nasca), San Javier in the District of Changuillo (Nasca), and Llipata (Palpa). It is the first archaeological project to study the life of the historic Afro-Peruvian populations.
The valleys of Nasca represent a rich cultural diversity.
This is the ancestral home and cradle of the Nasca culture, where two millennia ago the famous Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa were etched in the landscape. The modern populations recognize their heritage as diverse, arising from the indigenous cultures of the region and the highlands of Ayacucho, the African descendants who worked the haciendas, and those who came later, including Chinese laborers and migrants from elsewhere.
The collaborations between PAHN and the local communities are aimed at improving the conditions of their colonial- and republican-era archaeological heritage.
San Javier, for example, has held regular volunteer work parties to clean around the town’s historical district, and has worked to protect the large huarango beams from the colonial winepress.
On March 19 of the past year, 2019, San José celebrated its 400th anniversary of the founding of the Hacienda San Joseph de la Nasca, by the Jesuits of Cuzco in 1619.
Although San José celebrates its patron feast day every year, 2019 was a special reminder of the community’s deep roots.
The town of La Banda is also an important community of living memory.
The hamlet has its origins in the liberation of the enslaved workers of the haciendas of the valley and is a cradle of Afro-Peruvian culture in the region.
Together, we advocate that the haciendas of Nasca and all of their historical and archaeological legacy, should be included as part of an integral plan for the region, one that permits the modern populations to identify where they came from.
