I am a Peruvian social scientist. I completed my Bachelor of Arts and a Licentiate in Social Sciences, specializing in archaeology, at San Marcos University in Peru. I then advanced my education in the United States at Vanderbilt University, earning a Master of Arts in Anthropology. Currently, I am a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

As a son of migrants of indigenous descent in Lima, Peru’s capital city, my research interests focus on the Andean indigenous communities, which have historically been marginalized due to the dominance of major cultural, political, and economic discourses and institutions. My work has developed into two primary areas of exploration within the frameworks of historical archaeology and political ecology:

1. Analyzing the responses of local populations to the dominance exerted by two successive empires in the Andes: the Inca Empire and the Spanish Empire.
2. Investigating traditional knowledge, infrastructure, and resource management strategies of local communities. Currently, my doctoral dissertation research focuses on the “water scarcity management strategies” of an irrigation organization in the lower Lurin Valley, Lima.

I have nearly twenty years of professional experience in both the coastal and highland regions of Peru. I have participated in and led numerous research projects that employed a mixed-methods approach, incorporating archaeological surveys and excavations, archival document analysis, qualitative methods (including ethnography, interviews, and participant observation), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and historical photogrammetry.

Publications (a sample):

As first author:

Traslaviña-Arias, A.
2024 “La evangelización inicial desde la materialidad de las doctrinas de indios en los Andes peruanos: Una  propuesta de interpretación.” In: Emiliano Gallaga (Ed.) Una mirada reciente a la arqueología histórica latinoamericana, British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd., pp. 99-110.

Traslaviña-Arias, A.
2017 “La transformación del espacio doméstico como resultado de cambios en el espacio público en Malata, una doctrina colonial temprana en el valle del Colca.” In: Traslaviña-Arias, Chase, VanValkenburgh, and Weaver (eds.), Arqueología Histórica en el Perú. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP, 20. Fondo Editorial de la PUCP. Lima – Peru, pp. 187-211.

As co-author:

Traslaviña-Arias, A., L. Hinostroza, and K. Ricci
In press “Infraestructura productiva Inca y reconfiguración del paisaje sociopolítico local: Una perspectiva desde los almacenes del Valle de Sondondo (Lucanas, Ayacucho).” In: Barraza, S. Collcas, marcas y collonas: almacenamiento prehispánico y circulación de recursos en el Qhapaq Ñan, Proyecto Qhapaq Ñan, Ministry of Culture, Lima, Perú.

Wernke, S. A., L. E. Kohut, and A. Traslaviña-Arias
2017 “A GIS of movement and visual experience at a planned colonial town in highland Peru.” Journal of Archaeological Science, 84: 22-39.

B. J. M. Weaver, A. Traslaviña-Arias, P. VanValkenburgh, y Z. Chase
2016 “Arqueología histórica en el Perú: la sociedad andina en la transición económica, política y social.” In: Traslaviña-Arias, Chase, VanValkenburgh y Weaver (eds.), Arqueología Histórica en el Peru. Segunda Parte. Boletín de Arqueología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 20, Lima – Perú, pp. 5-12.

Wernke, S. A., C. Hernández, G. Marcone, G. Ore, A. Rodríguez, and A. Traslaviña-Arias
2016 “Beyond the Basemap: Multiscalar Survey through Aerial Photogrammetry in the Andes.” In: Erin Walcek Averett, Jody Michael Gordon, and Derek B. Counts (eds.) Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future: The Potential of Digital Archaeology. Grand Forks, ND: The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, pp. 251-278.

Media appearances:

Protest New Airport Near Machu Picchu
Interview with Robin Young. Here & Now. NPR, June 11th, 2019.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/06/11/archaeologists-protest-new-machu-picchu-airport