Cajamarca: Mapping (Post)Mining Palimpsests of the Peruvian Andes

Abstract: Mining, in addition to other human activities and natural phenomena, has repeatedly reshaped the landscapes of the Peruvian Andes. Long-standing, significantly modified and new Andean landscapes have resulted in a complex reading of the ‘land as palimpsest’ (Corboz, 1983). In recent decades, large-scale modern mining has disturbed headwater landscapes and broader Andean ecologies, as exemplified in Cajamarca’s gold mines. This article critically reads past and present spatial transformations induced by gold mining in the headwaters of the Cajamarca Basin. Through archival documentation, fieldwork and interpretative cartography, it analyses the large-scale surface mining operations in Cajamarca from 1993 to 2020, as well as their impact on downstream rural and urban ecologies. A cross-scalar mapping investigation discloses the spatial-ecological outcomes of twenty-seven years of mining (and closure) operational procedures. As a conclusion of the palimpsest reading, a design-research

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Veröffentlichungsversion ; begutachtet (peer reviewed) ; In: Urban Planning ; 5 (2020) 2 ; 172-190

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Mannheim
• (who): SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.
• (when): 2020
• Creator: Macera, Margarita ; De Meulder, Bruno ; Shannon, Kelly

Further information

• DOI: 10.17645/up.v5i2.2797
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2021101307333686758430
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:28 AM CEST