This seminar is hosted by the Institute for Spatial History Innovation and is designed as a collaborative forum for sharing works-in-progress, offering constructive feedback and support for projects still in development. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore how to articulate spatial questions more explicitly and how to incorporate appropriate spatial technologies into their work. Participation in the seminar is open to anyone interested, not just those planning to present. Please write to ishi@pitt.edu if you would like to join. 

During the session, Dr. Liz Arkush (Anthropology) will present a book chapter-in-progress, tentatively titled “Those who most pursued their freedom”: Archaeological and ethnohistoric perspectives on Colla resistance to Inca rule. The chapter examines Colla resistance to Inca expansion in the Lake Titicaca region by comparing written sources with archaeological evidence, highlighting both points of convergence and disagreement. Together, these sources reveal a prolonged and violently contested process of Inca expansion, marked by fortified resistance, eventual abandonment of hillforts, and the construction of Inca structures that may have commemorated final conquest.