1. The Urubamba in Panoptic Perspective

A far western tributary of the Amazon system, the Urubamba River has formed a main valley that anchors this discussion of Andean land and life. The valley floor at its southern point exceeds 4300 m asl; the valley ends below 300 m above sea level (asl) where the Urubamba joins the Tambo River to form the Ucayali. This 862 km-long depression manifests notable diversity of climate, vegetation and land use. In the temperate environment above 1800 m asl, human settlement and agriculture were important both before and after the Spanish Conquest (1532 ad). In contrast, the tropical environment in the Urubamba below 1800 m asl, except for a small periphery, had minimal Inca occupation. In the late sixteenth century, the Spaniards began to establish coca and sugar cane haciendas. Observational data and documents from the past introduce a diachronic understanding of the Urubamba as a valley region. Fieldwork beginning in 1963 validated that the place is wondrous in its ecologically diversity and traditional in its way of life, but also that it was on the cusp of change as land tenure became the major issue.