Hallucinogens, alcohol and shifting leadership strategies in the ancient Peruvian Andes

In the pre-Columbian Andes, the use of hallucinogens during the Formative period (900–300 BC) often supported exclusionary political strategies, whereas, during the Late Horizon (AD 1450–1532), Inca leaders emphasised corporate strategies via the mass consumption of alcohol. Using data from Quilcapampa, the authors argue that a shift occurred during the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000), when beer made from Schinus molle was combined with the hallucinogen Anadenanthera colubrina. The resulting psychotropic experience reinforced the power of the Wari state, and represents an intermediate step between exclusionary and corporate political strategies. This Andean example adds to the global catalogue documenting the close relationship between hallucinogens and social power.

Grass–Legume Mixtures Show Potential to Increase Above- and Belowground Biomass Production for Andean Forage-Based Fallows

Soils of the Andean highlands are under threat from cropping system intensification. Improved forage-based fallows offer great promise to address this issue, but research is needed to better understand the potential of species mixtures vs. monocultures to support multiple farmer objectives, especially forage production and soil conservation. We used a pot study to quantify above- and belowground biomass production as well as the total N uptake of grass–legume pairs between five grasses: (1) oat (Avena sativa), (2) ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), (3) festulolium (Lolium × Festuca genera), (4) brome grass (Bromus catharticus), and (5) orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), and four legumes: (1) vetch (Vicia dasycarpa), (2) red clover (Trifolium pratense), (3) black medic (Medicago lupulina), and (4) alfalfa (Medicago sativa) relative to the performance of each species in monoculture within two soils from the central Peruvian Andes. Grass–legume bicultures demonstrated significant overyielding, producing 65% and 28% more total dry biomass and total N uptake on average than monocultures. Aboveground biomass of bicultures was significantly influenced by the species of legume present, while belowground biomass was more affected by the grass species in the mixture. When evaluating the growth of each species separately, our findings indicate that overyielding was driven more by the enhanced growth of grasses relative to legumes. Our findings indicate that combining key functional groups (e.g., grass and legume, annual and perennial) offers great promise for developing improved fallows for supporting soil health and productivity in Andean agroecosystems.

Antibacterial, antibiofilm, and cytotoxic activities and chemical compositions of Peruvian propolis in an in vitro oral biofilm

Background: Natural products with antibacterial potential have begun to be tested on biofilm models, bringing us closer to understanding the response generated by the complex microbial ecosystems of the oral cavity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial, antibiofilm, and cytotoxic activities and chemical compositions of Peruvian propolis in an in vitro biofilm of Streptococcus gordonii and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Methods: The experimental work involved a consecutive, in vitro, longitudinal, and double-blinded study design. Propolis samples were collected from 13 different regions of the Peruvian Andes. The disk diffusion method was used for the antimicrobial susceptibility test. The cytotoxic effect of propolis on human gingival fibroblasts was determined by cell viability method using the MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay, and the effect of propolis on the biofilm was evaluated by confocal microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: The 0.78 mg/mL and 1.563 mg/mL concentrations of the methanolic fraction of the chloroform residue of Oxapampa propolis showed effects on biofilm thickness and the copy numbers of the srtA gene of S. gordonii and the radD gene of F. nucleatum at 48 and 120 hours, and chromatography (UV, λ 280 nm) identified rhamnocitrin, isorhamnetin, apigenin, kaempferol, diosmetin, acacetin, glycerol, and chrysoeriol. Conclusions: Of the 13 propolis evaluated, it was found that only the methanolic fraction of Oxapampa propolis showed antibacterial and antibiofilm effects without causing damage to human gingival fibroblasts. Likewise, when evaluating the chemical composition of this fraction, eight flavonoids were identified.

Cultivating what is ours: Local agro-food heritage as a development strategy in the Peruvian Andes

<p>The Peruvian Andes has long been portrayed as a space of poverty and marginalisation, but more recently Andean places have been reinterpreted as reservoirs of valuable patrimonio agroalimentario (agro-food heritage). Amidst global interest in food provenance and Peru’s gastronomic ‘boom’, Andean people and places have connected with different networks that value the geographical, ecological and social origins of food. This thesis explores the meaning of these changes by combining a discourse genealogy with local case studies. I first trace the emergence of interconnecting discourses of territorial development with identity and local agro-food heritage in Latin America. I explore how these discourses bring together diverse actors and agendas through arguments that collective action to revalue local agro-food heritage can offer equitable economic gains while conserving biocultural diversity, a theoretical dynamic that I term the ‘virtuous circle of products with identity.’ These promises frame in-depth case studies of Cabanaconde and Tuti, two rural localities in the southern Peruvian Andes where a range of development initiatives based on local agro-food heritage were undertaken from around the mid-2000s. The case studies combine evaluation of the economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of the initiatives, with ethnographic perspectives that look at them through the lens of local livelihoods. The partial successes and multiple setbacks of the initiatives highlight the tensions between economic impact, social equity and biocultural diversity while underlining the limitations of existing markets to value the rich connections between place and food in the Andes. Nevertheless, by highlighting local agency in engaging selectively with these initiatives, I conclude that their overall legacy has been largely positive. I suggest that connections being made between place, food and development can provide material and discursive support for diverse territorial economies, defined as the locally specific ways people in the Andes pursue their aspirations while retaining what they value about place, farming and food.</p>

Cultivating what is ours: Local agro-food heritage as a development strategy in the Peruvian Andes

<p>The Peruvian Andes has long been portrayed as a space of poverty and marginalisation, but more recently Andean places have been reinterpreted as reservoirs of valuable patrimonio agroalimentario (agro-food heritage). Amidst global interest in food provenance and Peru’s gastronomic ‘boom’, Andean people and places have connected with different networks that value the geographical, ecological and social origins of food. This thesis explores the meaning of these changes by combining a discourse genealogy with local case studies. I first trace the emergence of interconnecting discourses of territorial development with identity and local agro-food heritage in Latin America. I explore how these discourses bring together diverse actors and agendas through arguments that collective action to revalue local agro-food heritage can offer equitable economic gains while conserving biocultural diversity, a theoretical dynamic that I term the ‘virtuous circle of products with identity.’ These promises frame in-depth case studies of Cabanaconde and Tuti, two rural localities in the southern Peruvian Andes where a range of development initiatives based on local agro-food heritage were undertaken from around the mid-2000s. The case studies combine evaluation of the economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of the initiatives, with ethnographic perspectives that look at them through the lens of local livelihoods. The partial successes and multiple setbacks of the initiatives highlight the tensions between economic impact, social equity and biocultural diversity while underlining the limitations of existing markets to value the rich connections between place and food in the Andes. Nevertheless, by highlighting local agency in engaging selectively with these initiatives, I conclude that their overall legacy has been largely positive. I suggest that connections being made between place, food and development can provide material and discursive support for diverse territorial economies, defined as the locally specific ways people in the Andes pursue their aspirations while retaining what they value about place, farming and food.</p>

Characterization of expansive soils for the foundation of an irrigation canal in the Peruvian Andes, Cabana-Mañazo case

Alterations in water content in swelling soils cause volume variation, which implies constructive, socioeconomic and environmental damage. This paper characterizes the swelling soil located in an irrigation canal of the Peruvian Altiplano and its behavior of the properties by addition of lime in 5, 10, 15 and 20% of the total weight. Finding that the sample of the station 6+575 has combined presence of montmorillonite clays in a percentage of 13.52% together with the group of kaolinites in a percentage of 1.31%, consequently, it makes expandable clay of high plasticity. The soils of the station 6+250 have the characteristics of kaolinite clay, which distinguishes it as having low plasticity. In the swelling tests the high expansiveness was found, in the station 6+575, which has decreased with the addition of lime. Considering that concrete canals are generally of small thickness it would be important to consider the slightly dangerous effects on irrigation infrastructure.

Where’s the Love? Recentering Indigenous and Feminist Ethics of Care for Engaged Climate Research

Across a range of environmental change and crisis-driven research fields, including conservation, climate change and sustainability studies, the rhetoric of participatory and engaged research has become somewhat of a normative and mainstream mantra. Aligning with cautionary tales of participatory approaches, this article suggests that, all too often, ‘engaged’ research is taken up uncritically and without care, often by pragmatist, post-positivist and neoliberal action-oriented researchers, for whom the radical and relational practice of PAR is paradigmatically (ontologically, epistemologically and/or axiologically) incommensurable. Resisting depoliticised and rationalist interpretations of participatory methodologies, I strive in this article to hold space for the political, relational and ethical dimensions of collaboration and engagement. Drawing on four years of collaborative ethnographic climate research in the Peruvian Andes with campesinos of Quilcayhuanca, I argue that resituating Participatory Action Research (PAR) within a feminist and indigenous ethics of care more fully aligns with the radical participatory praxis for culturally appropriate transformation and the liberation of oppressed groups. Thus, I do not abandon the participatory methodology altogether, rather this article provides a hopeful reworking of the participatory methodology and, specifically, participatory and community-based adaptation (CBA) practices, in terms of a feminist and indigenous praxis of love-care-response. In so doing, I strive to reclaim the more radical feminist and Indigenous elements – the affective, relational and political origins of collaborative knowledge production – and rethink research in the rupture of climate crises, relationally. The ethico-political frictions and tensions inherent in engaged climate scholarship are drawn into sharp relief, and deep reflection on the responsibility researchers take on when asking questions in spaces and times of ecological loss, trauma and grief is offered.