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In papers previously published in this journal J. M. Stycos and D. M. Heer have shown that fertility is lower in the economically underdeveloped Indian-speaking parts of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia than in the more prosperous Spanish-speaking parts. Stycos concluded that the reason for the fertility difference in Peru is the greater marital instability of the Indian speakers which decreased their total exposure to the risk of conception. Heer suggested instead that the causes of the difference may be voluntary. The present paper questions Heer's analysis, and offers the explanation that the difference may be attributed to the physiological effects of altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Globalization has vastly increased the number of people travelling the globe. More than half a million tourists visit the Andean Highlands each year, many of them following the “Inca route” between Peru and Bolivia in pursuit of adventurous moments and “authentic” experiences. The governments of Peru and Bolivia have embraced cultural tourism as a strategy for economic growth, the alleviation of poverty, the conservation of cultural heritage and the protection of indigenous rights. To understand the long-term implications of tourism in the Andes, however, we need to understand what draws tourists to the area, how local people view the visitors, how locals and outsiders variously understand “poverty”, and how global travelling affects opportunities for local development. Based on a combined analysis of travel guides, interviews with Peruvian and Bolivian Andeanists and fieldwork in the southern Andes of Bolivia, this article explores perceptions of place, poverty, and international tourism's potential for economic development in the Andean region. While cultural tourism has incorporated Andean people in the consumer-oriented global economy, the majority remain socially marginalized and without sufficient access to productive resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discovery of the major geological sources of Central Andean obsidian permits a new understanding of the patterns of obsidian procurement and exchange by the Prehispanic societies of southern Peru and northern Bolivia. Based on the trace element analysis of obsidian artifacts from 160 archaeological sites, it can be established that the two major deposits of obsidian were being exploited by 9400 BP, and that volcanic glass was being transported over long distances throughout Andean prehistory. Inhabitants of the Cuzco region acquired most obsidian from the Alca source in central Arequipa, while those in the high plateau surrounding Lake Titicaca obtained most obsidian from the Chivay source in southern Arequipa. Obsidian evidence suggests close ties between the Cuzco and Circum-Titicaca regions throughout prehistory, except during the Middle Horizon (ca. 1400–1050 BP), when the expansion of the Huari and Tiahuanaco states disrupted this pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]