Cuentas y cultura material: La reconstrucción del Real Palacio de Lima después del terremoto de 1746

Abstract

This article is an analysis and transcription of an account book on the rebuilding of the Royal Palace of Lima, after the devastating earthquake of 1746. The document contains detailed information about the origin and costs of the work force and the products used in the rebuilding, information rarely found in documentation from the period. It thus offers a rich entryway into a number of important themes regarding eighteenth-century Peru. These include material culture, the life and death of slaves, and construction techniques. It contributes to the understanding of social and economic history of colonial Peru and more specifically to late colonial architecture and accounting, as well as the history of the Palace itself.