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Shields Library is closed through January 1. Requests for books, digitization services, and interlibrary loan will be fulfilled after the new year.

Isabelle Guerrero

2nd Place

Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, 2020

By reviewing colonial, archaeological, ethnographic, and academic sources, I hoped to shed light on unanswered questions regarding the historic use and management of resources in the Andean highlands.

Isabelle Guerrero

Exploring the Historic Use of Animal Traps in the Andes and their Lasting Effects on the Vicuña

Independent study for ANT 199: Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates

Read Isabelle’s Paper (pdf)

Project Description

Guerrero’s independent study project explores the connection between the recent discovery of 300-year-old animal traps in the Andean altiplano, known in Quechua as chaccus, the vicuña wool economy, and the decline of the vicuña population during the colonial and post-colonial eras. Using library databases such as eHRAF World Cultures, Guerrero studied first-hand accounts from the colonial era, contemporary ethnographies, and journals across multiple disciplines.

In Their Own Words

Read Isabelle’s reflective essay from their Lang Prize application.