Informal deathscapes in metropolitan Lima as cultural knowledge systems

In Lima’s vast periphery to the South, East and North of the old city centre, migrants who arrived in large numbers from the mid-twentieth century onward not only constructed their own houses and settlements, but also burial spaces. The need for cheap dead disposal was high in the emerging settlements. The co-created, and co-managed deathscapes developed into permeable spaces that fuse with the surrounding settlements and the homes of the co-creators. Conceptually, these informal burial deathscapes can be scaled between ‘clandestine’ and not-fully-formal. Based on a case study in Villa Maria Del Triunfo, this chapter fleshes out the multiple uses and meanings of the informal burial deathscape to present it as a system of local cultural knowledge production. I delve into the logics of the informal deathscape assemblage, unravelling the material, spiritual-religious, and economic dimensions to flesh out the significance of this cultural knowledge system for urban vulnerable populations.