Work in Progress

Eugenia Ibarra, Intercambio, política y sociedad en el siglo XVI

electronic text

Introduction : Jeffrey Quilter

It is a pleasure to introduce this new work on exchange, politics, and society in southern Central America during the era of initial contact between indigenous peoples and Europeans. This research by Eugenia Ibarra of the University of Costa Rica is a milestone in our understanding of a region of the New World that has received far less attention from the international scholarly community than it deserves.

In the sixteenth century, southern Central America was a densely populated land sustaining rich and varied cultures. Although the area often has been seen as a cultural bridge of sorts between South America and Mesoamerica, Ibarraís study demonstrates that it is fully worthy of investigation and appreciation in its own right. The particular focus of this study, exchange, nonetheless remains of particular importance for the light it sheds on connections between different peoples in the region and beyond. The fact that long-distance communications were numerous and constant underscores the significance of connections not only between the peoples of the lower isthmus but among the inhabitants of the Pre-Columbian world in general. These interchanges wove a fabric of understandings that enmeshed the various peoples in the area in social relationships that often ignored or overrode social, cultural, and political differences.

It is perhaps fitting that exchange is the focus of this work given the interaction across distances that the World Wide Web allows. The theme of exchanging ideas and knowledge is taken even further by the fact that this is the first Spanish-language publication by Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, part of an effort to find new and innovative ways to improve communication with our Latin American colleagues. Just as long-distance trade routes were not only networks of economic relations but also part of larger social processes, so too this essay offers an opportunity for dynamic relationships to develop between authors and readers.

Works in Progress allows us to rapidly disseminate new scholarship, and to further the exchange of ideas we invite readers to engage in discussion with the authors about the theories and observations presented on this Web site. Plans are underway to produce an English-language version of Intercambio, to appear in print and in an electronic format. Meanwhile, it is permissible to use the text presented here for research and teaching.

In closing, I wish to thank Eugenia Ibarra for this fine piece of scholarship and for her willingness to be the first author published through Pre-Columbian Studiesí electronic publishing program. The gems that she found in archives and interpreted within the larger framework of social science theory are complemented here by the charming illustrations from the album of Jose Maria Figueroa, kindly provided by the national archives of Costa Rica. I sincerely thank them.

color plates of the Figueroa album

You may send comments on this manuscript to the author Euibarra@racsa.co.cr. You may also send comments on this manuscript and other aspects of this Web site to Pre-Columbian@doaks.org.