ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the main theories, concepts, and methods used in the study of pre-Hispanic states in the Central Andes. Andean archaeology is a result of the collaboration between a diverse group of foreign and national researchers throughout its history. Because scientific archaeology was created in other “more developed” countries and imported into the Andes, there were a number of theories, concepts, categories, and methods that prejudiced our way of explaining indigenous archaeological phenomena. Large and small archaeological and ethnographic collections scattered around the world began to be organized under that same evolutionary scheme. These collections generated explanations of the political structure of these societies, especially in the exhibitions of the great museums of Europe and the United States. Collecting is the basis of the great systems of prehistoric stages in the museums of Europe.
