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The Latin American Studies Book Series

Alina Álvarez Larrain · Catriel Greco Editors

Political Landscapes of the Late Intermediate Period in the Southern AndesThe Pukaras and Their Hinterlands

The Latin American Studies Book Series

Series editors

Eustógio Wanderley Correia Dantas, Departamento de Geografia, Centro deCiências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, BrazilJorge Rabassa, Lab Geomorfología y Cuaternar, CADIC-CONICET, Ushuaia,Tierra de Fuego, ArgentinaAndrew Sluyter, Conference of Latin Americanist Geograph, Louisiana StateUniversity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

The Latin American Studies Book Series promotes quality scientific researchfocusing on Latin American countries. The series accepts disciplinary andinterdisciplinary titles related to geographical, environmental, cultural, economic,political and urban research dedicated to Latin America. The series publishescomprehensive monographs, edited volumes and textbooks refereed by a region orcountry expert specialized in Latin American studies.

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Alina Álvarez Larrain • Catriel GrecoEditors

Political Landscapesof the Late IntermediatePeriod in the Southern AndesThe Pukaras and Their Hinterlands

123

EditorsAlina Álvarez LarrainCentro de Investigaciones en GeografíaAmbiental (CIGA)

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMoreliaMéxico

and

CONICET - Instituto de las Culturas(IDECU)

Universidad de Buenos AiresCiudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresArgentina

Catriel GrecoDepartamento de GeologíaUniversidad Nacional de San Luis—CONICET

San LuisArgentina

ISSN 2366-3421 ISSN 2366-343X (electronic)The Latin American Studies Book SeriesISBN 978-3-319-76728-4 ISBN 978-3-319-76729-1 (eBook)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76729-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018934384

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or partof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmissionor information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developed.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in thispublication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt fromthe relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in thisbook are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor theauthors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein orfor any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard tojurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AGpart of Springer NatureThe registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Alina Álvarez Larrain, Catriel Greco and Federico Wynveldt

Defensibility Analysis with Geographical Information Systems in aPukara in the Hualfín Valley, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Federico Wynveldt, Juan Manuel Sallés and Luciano López

Photogrammetric Survey with UAV of Strategic Villages of Yocavil(Catamarca, Argentina) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Catriel Greco

Chacras of the Pukara: The Late Occupation (Tenth–SixteenthCenturies) of Mesada De Andalhuala Banda, Yocavil(Catamarca, Argentina) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Alina Álvarez Larrain

The Monumentalization of Dwelling Spaces in West-Central SantaMaría Valley During the Late Intermediate Period(AD 1000–1450), Northwest Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Victoria Coll Moritan

Regional Dynamics in the High Quebradas of the Valle CalchaquíMedio (Salta, Argentina) Between the Eleventh and Early SeventeenthCenturies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Verónica Isabel Williams

New Approaches to the Chullparian Architecture and TheirSpatial Location Within Pucará de Turi (Antofagasta Region,Northern Chile) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Cristián González-Rodríguez

v

Interethnic Conflicts in the Highlands of Northwestern ArgentinaDuring the Late Intermediate Period: A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187María Ester Albeck, María Elena de los Ángeles Tejerina,Domingo Chorolque, José Luis Tolaba and Paula Arévalo

An Approach to Spatial Configuration in the Regional DevelopmentsPeriod in the Coranzulí Area (Jujuy Province, Argentina) . . . . . . . . . . . 219María Carolina Rivet

Agropastoral Taskscapes and Seasonal Warfare in the SouthernAndes During the Regional Developments Period(Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Axel E. Nielsen

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

vi Contents

About the Editors

Alina Álvarez Larrain holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology (2009) and aPh.D. in Archaeology from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) (2015),Argentina. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Research Center inEnvironmental Geography (CIGA) of the National Autonomous University ofMexico (UNAM), investigating local spatial knowledge and perceptionsof archaeological landscapes in localities of Mexico and Argentina. She has been aPh.D. Fellow at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council ofArgentina (CONICET) between 2009 and 2014 studying settlement patterns and theconstruction of landscapes in the Calchaqui Valleys of Argentina. Since 2005, shehas been a Researcher at the Yocavil Archaeological Project at the EthnographicMuseum “J. B. Ambrosetti” (UBA). Her research focuses on the study of thelandscapes and pre-Hispanic architecture of farmer populations of the ArgentineNorthwest. She has published 17 articles in national and international scientificbooks and journals with peer review, as well as 15 presentations at national andinternational scientific meetings. Her works include use of remote sensing, GIS,settlement patterns, ceramic and rock art analysis.

Catriel Greco holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a Ph.D. inArchaeology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he also workedas assistant teacher for 5 years. Currently, he is Researcher at the National Scientificand Technical Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) in the Department ofGeology, National University of San Luis (UNSL). He has been a fellow ofCONICET between the years 2007–2012, which allowed him to carry out his doc-toral research on temporality and spatiality in the archaeology of the CalchaquiValleys of Argentina. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher (2013–2015) at the ResearchCenter in Environmental Geography (CIGA) of the National Autonomous Universityof Mexico (UNAM). He has also participated in research and extension teams at thenational universities of Buenos Aires, San Luis and Mexico. He has published 17articles in national and international scientific books and journals with peer review, aswell as 29 presentations at national and international scientific meetings.

vii

Reviewers of this Volume

Kevin Lane, CONICET—Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras,Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Mario Gabriel Maldonado, CONICET—Laboratorio de Geoarqueología,Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional deTucumán, Argentina.

Gabriela Oré, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, USA.Valeria Palamarczuk, CONICET—Instituto de las Culturas, Facultad de

Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.Claudio Javier Patané Aráoz, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad

Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.María Mercedes Podestá, Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento

Latinoamericano. Ministerio de Cultura, Argentina.Jason S. Nesbitt, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, USA.José María Vaquer, CONICET—Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía

y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ix

Introduction

Alina Álvarez Larrain, Catriel Greco and Federico Wynveldt

Abstract The Late Intermediate Period or LIP (ca. AD 1000–1430) in the Andes isa span of time that follows the decline of the Wari and Tiwanaku states. Beyondregional variations, there is consensus that the LIP is characterized by processes ofsocial complexity, regional population growth, cooperative and competitive rela-tionships (including warfare). Archaeological evidence indicates that some pukara,a word that means “fortress” or “castle” in both Aymara and Quechua, functionedas fortified refuges—temporary shelters for people to congregate in times of conflict(or threats of conflict). Meanwhile, a high number of conglomerate towns instrategic positions shows evidence of permanent residence. However, we cannotconsider the LIP political landscapes and life in agglomerated or fortified hilltopsvillages without also addressing semi-conglomerate towns, the economic areaswhere food and goods were produced and processed, and the ritual loci that were ofreligious importance for these communities. This book has nine case studies cov-ering a large geographic area within the Southern Andes crossing the nationalbarriers that tend to atomize the study of pre-Hispanic landscapes; and a wide rangeof themes such as: intra-site architectural and spatial regularities; analysis of

A. Álvarez Larrain (&)Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental (CIGA), Universidad NacionalAutónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701, Col. Ex-Haciendade San José de la Huerta, Morelia 58190, Michoacán, Méxicoe-mail: [email protected]

A. Álvarez LarrainCONICET - Instituto de las Culturas (IDECU), Universidad de Buenos Aires,Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

C. GrecoCONICET - Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional de San Luis,Av. Ejército de Los Andes 950, San Luis D5700HHW, San Luis, Argentinae-mail: [email protected]

F. WynveldtCONICET - Laboratorio de Análisis Cerámico, Facultad de CienciasNaturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 64 N°3,Lab. 18, La Plata 1900, Buenos Aires, Argentinae-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018A. Álvarez Larrain and C. Greco (eds.), Political Landscapesof the Late Intermediate Period in the Southern Andes, The Latin AmericanStudies Book Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76729-1_1

1

http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/978-3-319-76729-1_1&domain=pdf



accessibility and visibility; chullpas and chullpa-type structures; evidence of rockart; spatial configurations and regional settlement patterns; social-environmentalrelationships; ethnic identity and social differentiation and the temporality oflandscapes. We believe that this updated contribution on the southern Andes willprovide new theoretical and methodological perspectives in the study of politicallandscapes of the LIP at the time it can be a good bibliography reference forresearchers interesting in the same topic in northern latitudes.

Keywords Late Intermediate Period or LIP � Pukara � Political landscapespre-Hispanic Landscapes � Regional settlement patterns

This book was born out of a symposium held at the 19th National Congress ofArgentine Archaeology (CNAA) entitled Pukaras, strategic towns, and dispersedsettlements: Political landscapes of the Late Intermediate Period in the SouthernAndes. The conference took place in San Miguel de Tucuman between August 8and 12, 2016, and was organized by the first two authors of this introduction andwith Federico Wynveldt as discussant. The symposium had an excellent receptionboth by the speakers at the time of call for papers and by the academic public(students and researchers) present at the meeting, encouraging us to compile thepresentations into an edited volume.

The Late Intermediate Period or LIP (ca. AD 1000–1430) in the Andes is a spanof time that follows the decline of the Wari and Tiwanaku states (Covey 2008).Beyond regional variations, there is consensus that the LIP is characterized byprocesses of social complexity, regional population growth, cooperative andcompetitive relationships (including warfare), within a fluctuating political land-scape where populations of varying size created distinct ethnic identities, economicsystems, and social structures (Arkush 2011; Arkush and Stanish 2005; Covey2008; Nielsen 2002). Paleoenvironmental data suggest that by the late 1200s,droughts became more severe (Abbott et al. 1997; Arkush 2008; Binford et al.1997; Morales et al. 2013; Thompson et al. 1998, inter alia), perhaps prompting anincrease in violence (Arkush 2011; Nielsen 2009). Radiocarbon dates from hillfortsites indicate that regional intergroup conflict and political integration increased bythirteenth century or so before the region began to come under Inka control aroundfifteenth century (Arkush and Stanish 2005; Marsh et al. 2017; Nielsen 2009). AsArkush has highlighted (2008), the pattern of defensive hilltop settlements andfortified sites was recognized for the central and southern highlands decades ago,but recent research has demonstrated that it extends from at least northern highlandPeru, throughout central and southern Peru and highland Bolivia, to northern Chileand northwestern Argentina (Aldunate et al. 2003; Arkush 2011; Castro et al. 1991;Covey 2008; Malpass and Alconini 2010; Nielsen 2002; Tarragó 2011; UribeRodríguez et al. 2004; Wynveldt 2009). Archaeological evidence indicates thatsome pukara, a word that means “fortress” or “castle” in both Aymara and Quechua(Bertonio 1612; González-Holguin 1989), functioned as fortified refuges, that is,temporary shelters for people to congregate in times of conflict (or threats of

2 A. Álvarez Larrain et al.

conflict) (Arkush 2011; Nielsen in this volume). Meanwhile, a high number ofconglomerate towns in strategic positions shows evidence of permanent residence(Aldunate et al. 2003; Arkush 2011; Castro et al. 1991; Nielsen in this volume;Tarragó 2011; Uribe Rodríguez et al. 2004; Wynveldt 2009).

Given the prominence of pan-Andean social conflict, the LIP in the southernhighlands has been analyzed mainly from the perspective of fortified settlements andmaterial evidence related to war (weapons, study of trauma in human bones, ritualiconography, war scenes in rock art) (Arkush 2011; Arkush and Tung 2013; Balestaand Zagorodny 2010; Nielsen 2007, 2009;Williams and Castellanos 2011;Wynveldtand Balesta 2009; see also chapters by Albeck et al., Williams, and Nielsen in thisvolume). However, we believe that to have a complete picture of this importantperiod of Andean history, it is also necessary to consider how ancient politicallandscapes—understood as integrated networks of spaces and boundaries throughwhich people engaged with their environment and perceived their social roles andorganizing principles (Ingold 2000; Kosiba and Bauer 2013; Smith 2003)—wereconstructed from the relationship between pukaras and other types of sites that couldbe part of the same territories. For example, it is reasonable to think that the satis-faction of basic needs for survival still depended on the work of the householdslocated in rural areas. In this sense, we cannot consider the LIP political landscapesand life in agglomerated or fortified hilltop villages without also addressingsemi-conglomerate towns (small towns situated in accessible locations), the eco-nomic areas (crop fields, water sources, grazing posts, and raw material sources)where food and goods were produced and processed, and the ritual loci (rock art,huacas, burial places, among others) that were of religious importance for thesecommunities.

Archaeological research has long had an interest in the study of the spatialaspects of ancient practices, and current landscape archaeology approaches haveadded a rich perspective on this topic (Ashmore and Knapp 1999; David andThomas 2008; Parcero-Oubiña et al. 2014). According to these perspectives,landscapes are not simply a backdrop for peoples’ activities. If space is the physicalcontour of the earth’s surface that allows, but also constrains human performance,the landscape can be understood as the land that humans have experienced and builton. As dynamic sociocultural productions, landscapes are records of the life andwork of the generations that have lived in them, putting into practice their principlesof social organization (Ingold 2000). Architecture, as a deliberate creation of aspace, is an element of landscape configuration and expression of cultural attitudestoward it (Parker Pearson and Richards 1994). In this sense, the pukaras redefinedthe LIP social and political landscapes by reconfiguring the spatiality of offensive–defensive possibilities, which led to a transformation of relations within andbetween communities.

The central objective of the symposium was to consider the relationship betweenpukaras and its surrounding landscape, focusing on the architectural and settlementvariability registered in both contexts. We consider the state of endemic conflict thatcharacterized Andean societies during the second millennium AD as a pan-Andeanphenomenon, which must be studied from a macro-regional perspective and

Introduction 3

analyzed and compared of a multiplicity of cases and local problems that mighthave existed. To this end, we invited local and foreign researchers interested in thissubject to present the results of their investigations in diverse topics such as thestudy of new pukaras, scattered sites (housing or production), demographic studiesand spatial distribution of population, and chronology and correlation with socialand environmental phenomena at different scales.

Although the invitation proposed a temporal delimitation within the LateIntermediate Period, the strength of the chronological evidence expanded thisscheme and encompassed sites dating from the LIP, Inka, and Early ColonialPeriods with different histories of continuity, abandonment, or reoccupation ofsettlements. The chronological range of ca. AD 1000–1430 to refer to the LIP waschosen by the editors of the book; but as will be evident in the ensuing chapters,there is a slight discrepancy in dates between the different authors. This may be dueto the fact that the processes could have different timing at the local level, but alsowe consider this discrepancy symptomatic of the difficulty to define strict ranges forthese macro-periods as new radiocarbon dates become available.

As a result of this symposium, this book has nine case studies covering a largegeographic area within the southern Andes (northwestern Argentina, northern Chile,and southern Bolivia), crossing the national barriers that tend to atomize the study ofpre-Hispanic landscapes. The 15 authors of this volume are both young researcherswith new methodological and theoretical perspectives and renowned senior scholarswith decades of academic production in the field of Andean archaeology. Thechapters presented here cover a wide range of themes such as intra-site architecturaland spatial regularities in different types of sites—pukaras, fortified shelters, dis-persed settlements, and agricultural areas—(Chaps. 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8); analysis ofaccessibility and visibility (Chaps. 2, 5 and 7); chullpas and chullpa-type structures(Chaps. 7, 9 and 10); evidence of rock art (Chaps. 6, 8 and 10); spatial configura-tions and regional settlement patterns (Chaps. 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10); social–environ-mental relationships (Chaps. 4, 8 and 10); ethnic identity and social differentiation(Chaps. 2, 7 and 8); and the temporality of landscapes (Chaps. 6 and 10). Themethodologies used include pedestrian and aerial surveys with unmanned aerialvehicle (UAV); photogrammetric, topographic, and architectural surveys; excava-tions of households; ceramic and rock art analysis; spatial analysis with GIS; and theuse of historical documents and ethnographic information.

Since the chapters presented here have many thematic points of contact, wedecided to organize them geographically, moving from south to north, from thesouthern valleys of Catamarca Province in Argentina to Lipez in the southern partof the Bolivian Altiplano, passing through the Calchaqui valleys of Catamarca, thePuna and Quebrada de Humahuaca of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, and theAntofagasta region in northern Chile. This macroscale perspective enabled us tocompare similarities and differences in a framework in which fundamental aspectsof life are shared, including warfare and subsistence practices.

The chapter by Federico Wynveldt, Juan Manuel Sallés, and Luciano Lópezdetails the application of GIS tools such as cost paths and viewsheds to analyze thedefensibility of the pukara Cerro Colorado of La Ciénaga de Abajo, in the southeast


of the Hualfín Valley (Catamarca Province, Argentina), considering its accessibilityand visibility, and its relationship with the immediate environment. The authors linkthe results of these analyses (especially for the central sector of the site where aspecial architectural complex is located), with three fundamental problems for theLIP and Inka Periods in northwest Argentina: intergroup conflicts in the region,Belén site chronology, and the degree of social inequality. The development of thiswork permitted the authors to measure the scope and limitations of the use of GIS asan instrument for analyzing defensibility and conclude that the central sector is themost protected part of Cerro Colorado. From there, people had the ability to makean immediate visual contact with the other sectors of the site, which in turn havebetter visibility of immediate surroundings and the valley in general. These differentcharacteristics are linked to some degree of inequality among the people inhabitingthe site.

In Chap. 3, Catriel Greco presents a methodological synthesis derived from thefirst experiences in the use of UAVs or drones for the photogrammetric survey ofstrategic settlements in the Yocavil Valley (Catamarca, Argentina). To acquire aninventory of the variability of these strategic settlements, Greco selected a segmentof the Yocavil Valley to carry out full coverage methodologies, including remotesensing with aerial photographs and satellite images, and pedestrian surveys in thefield. This allowed him to record and systematize information of archaeologicalsites of varied characteristics in terms of architecture, location, and surface diag-nostic material. The use of UAVs also enabled the author to advance in thedetection of structures and the drawing of plans of the sites, as well as a detailedrecord of the site location geoforms.

In the same regional context, the chapter by Alina Álvarez Larrain presents theresults of field survey and test excavations undertaken in the Mesada de AndalhualaBanda, a plateau located at the foot of the pukara Loma Rica de Shiquimil, one ofthe most important aggregated settlements in Yocavil Valley. The three hundredand eighty-two architectural units registered in the site suggest a prolonged occu-pation during the first and second millennia AD. The author concentrates on the LIPoccupation, which includes structures for cultivation, accumulation of stones thatwere the product of land clearing, irrigation systems, milling tools and circularstructures, and possible storage facilities. Spatially associated with these featureswere dispersed residential units assignable to the Santa María culture. This infor-mation and the radiocarbon dates obtained from the excavations lead the author toconclude that the Mesada was occupied during the entire LIP as a main productivearea and dwelling sector of the population tasked with food production, which inturn played an important role in relation to the nearby pukara settlement.

In the following chapter, Victoria Coll Moritan analyzes the organization ofconstructed space and the perception of space in the sites of Morro del Fraile and ElCarmen 1, one located within the Cajón Mountain Range and the other in a rangespurs opposite to the Santa María Valley. To achieve this goal, circulation patternsand visibility analysis from the field were developed at both sites in order tounderstand the settlement emplacement logic of societies from the LateIntermediate Period in this part of northwestern Argentina. The author concludes

Introduction 5

that both villages display an arbitrary and asymmetrical building distribution withno preconceived plan, a spatial structure that arises as a consequence of topographicadaptation. At the same time, an intra-site space hierarchy can be identified in bothcases, although due to different factors. Finally, while El Carmen 1 has a greatvisibility toward the landscape, Morro del Fraile village has a limited landscapevisibility due to its location within the highlands.

In Chap. 6, Verónica Isabel Williams provides a synthesis of archaeologicalresearch in the Angastaco and Molinos basins, in the Middle Calchaquí Valley(Salta Province, Argentina). The main objectives of this project are to build achronological frame to be used as a base for the LIP occupations and to obtainarchaeological data from this area that can be used as a starting point for theassessment of the cultural construction of the landscape between the eleventh andseventeenth centuries. Based on her research, Williams suggests that on the onehand the occupational continuity of the ravines in the basins of Molinos andAngastaco followed logics and practices corresponding to pre-Hispanic moments.On the other hand, Williams emphasizes the seasonal rhythm of productive activ-ities, agricultural in particular, which were linked to subsistence and social repro-duction, such as seasonal and altitudinal management.

The chapter by Cristian González-Rodríguez characterizes the architectural andspatial variability of the chullpa construction pattern within the Pucará de Turi(Antofagasta Region, northern Chile). To achieve this, the author approaches thesyntactic analysis of the site following an “archaeotectonic” approach, whichencompasses both the formal analysis of buildings, construction forms, and tech-niques and the models of circulatory routes and visibility conditions. The study ofthe built structures allowed Cristian González-Rodríguez to identify a model oforganization of monuments and ritual spaces, which suggests segmentation andsocial hierarchy within the settlement. This research seeks to understand the socialconstruction of the different ritual spaces that constitute Pucará de Turi as a socio-cultural context of population interaction during the LIP in the Upper Loa region.

In the following chapter, María Ester Albeck, María Elena de los ÁngelesTejerina, Domingo Chorolque, José Luis Tolaba, and Paula Arévalo present a novelinterpretation of the interethnic conflicts that characterized the LIP, analyzing tworegions within the Jujuy Province of northern Argentina: the Puna, an extensivehighland with wide endorheic basins, and Quebrada de Humahuaca, a long andnarrow valley on its eastern border. The authors discuss the differential presence ofstrategic and defensive settlements in both areas. Albeck et al. propose thatRinconada and Casabindo in Jujuy’s Puna were both characterized by extensiveterritories, a fact that could explain the low incidence of conflicts. In contrast,Quebrada de Humahuaca has a large number of strategic settlements, which couldhave emerged from internal tensions among local groups that ruled over smallerareas. In addition, they studied the spatial location and characteristics of rock artdepicting conflict scenes, hypothesizing that some of the human figures and theiroutfits could be referring to the different ethnic groups inhabiting the region.

In Chap. 9, María Carolina Rivet presents her research at three sites—Yerbaijo,Canalita, and Licante—in the area of Coranzulí, Department of Susques (Jujuy


Province, Argentina). The first two sites correspond to small semi-conglomeratetowns, while the third is a dispersed-type settlement. The author is interested inaddressing three questions: the interrelation of these sites with other areas on aregional scale, especially the site of Casabindo (see Albeck et al., in this volume);the analysis of the relations between these sites on a local scale; and the role that anancestor cult might have played considering the study of more than a hundredchullpas recorded in the area. Based on the forms of the settlements, their con-struction techniques, and the characteristics of the pottery, Rivet concludes theexistence of a connection between these sites in Coranzulí and the area ofCasabindo during the LIP. Also, the three mentioned sites would have been linkedto each other by the mobility strategies of pastoral or agropastoral groups, whichraises the possibility that a dispersed settlement like Licante was used by a specificdomestic group that at certain times of the year lived in towns like Yerbaijo orCanalita. Finally, Rivet analyzed how the chullpas, as the embodiment of ancestors,integrated materially into the social networks.

In the final chapter, Axel E. Nielsen outlines two working hypotheses regardingthe practice of war before the Inka expansion (thirteenth–fifteenth centuries). Thesehypotheses built on the analysis of settlement data from two environmentallycontrasting regions of the southern Andes: Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy,Argentina) and Northern Lipez (Potosí, Bolivia). Nielsen proposes that, on the onehand, the variability observed in defensive settlements can be partially explained byreference to the different roles that pukaras played in broader territorial strategies,which always involved other locations and activities that were important for thereproduction of the communities who built them. On the other hand, that warfarewas restricted to the dry season, when the labor demands of farming and herdingwere at their lowest levels and populations could aggregate in defensive locations.

These nine chapters shed light on the variety of settlements and situations thatthe political landscapes of the LIP had. Some pukaras such as Loma Rica deShiquimil in Yocavil and Cerro Colorado de La Ciénaga de Abajo in HualfínValley (Chaps. 2–4) seem to had good visual control of their surroundings con-trolling water sources and low productive farmland, and others were strategicallyplaced on natural routes, likes those pukaras in Quebrada de Humahuaca (Chap. 8).On the contrary, some pukaras were hidden in the mountains, not possessing astrategic location that could have controlled external traffic or specific resourcessuch as those in Jujuy Puna (Pueblo Viejo de Tucute, Chap. 8). In the CalchaquiValley, two contrasting situations can be observed. On the one side, fortresses likeTacuil, Gualfin, Punta Peña, Peña Alta, Pueblo Viejo, and Cerro La Cruz associatedwith small villages are located in the high ravines. In contrast, in the main valley,large pukara-towns such as El Churcal, San Isidro, Molinos 1, San Rafael, La Paya,Guitián, Animaná, and Tolombón can be observed. In addition, the data show thatsome pukaras were abandoned at the time of the Inka expansion, while others seemto have been occupied throughout the Late Horizon. The investigations also showthat these LIP political landscapes were constructed from an important diversity ofsites that includes scattered domestic settlements, fortified refuges, large residentialconglomerates, extensive constructions of cultivated terraces with irrigation canals,

Introduction 7

rock art, and cemeteries. In this sense, the majority of the chapters examine howpukaras and other contemporaneous sites articulated in terms of spatial relation-ships and the annual cycles associated with basic productive activities, such asfarming, herding, hunting, and interregional exchange.

In conclusion, we want to emphasize that this regional analysis gave us theopportunity to understand a variety of regions, environments, places, and approa-ches around the theme of the pukaras and their landscapes. The multiplicity ofperspectives and cases forced us to extricate ourselves from the historical–culturalbox and examine important processes that occur over a wide region. We believethat this updated contribution on the southern Andes will provide new theoreticaland methodological perspectives in the study of political landscapes of the LateIntermediate Period at the time it can be a good bibliography reference forresearchers interesting in the same topic in northern latitudes.

We wish to give thanks to María Ester Albeck, María Elena de los ÁngelesTejerina, Domingo Chorolque, Paula Arévalo, José Luis Tolaba, Victoria CollMoritan, Cristián González-Rodríguez, Beau Murphy, Xurxo Ayán, GerardoBocco, Myriam Tarragó, Axel E. Nielsen, Claudio M. Revuelta, Carolina Rivet,Verónica Isabel Williams, Juan Manuel Sallés, and Amanda Galar, for contributingthe original symposium and to this volume. In addition, we would like to thank thereviewers of this volume, Kevin Lane, Mario Maldonado, Gabriela Oré, ValeriaPalamarczuk, Claudio Javier Patané Araoz, María Mercedes Podestá, JasonS. Nesbitt, and José María Vaquer who collaborated to improve the scientificquality of this book. A special thanks to Jorge Rabassa, editor of Springer in LatinAmerica, for his helpfulness throughout the publication process.

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Arkush E, Tung T (2013) Patterns of war in the Andes from the archaic to the late horizon: insightsfrom settlement patterns and cranial trauma. J Archaeol Res 21:307–369

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Introduction 9

Defensibility Analysis with GeographicalInformation Systems in a Pukarain the Hualfín Valley, Argentina

Federico Wynveldt, Juan Manuel Sallés and Luciano López

Abstract Cerro Colorado is an archaeological village site located in La Ciénaga deAbajo, in the South East of the Hualfín Valley (Belén, Catamarca, Argentina), at thetop of a 150 m hill. It can be defined as a pukara—a fortified site—considering notonly its location, but also its defensive walls, and the naturally inaccessible char-acter of certain areas. Most of the radiocarbon data dates the site’s occupation to thefirst half of the fifteenth century, that is, around the beginning of the Inka conquest,although some data points to earlier settlement, and other to later periods. It is oneof the most important archaeological sites in the valley in terms of the number ofstructures distributed in five topographically separated sectors. One of these‘neighborhoods’ is the Central Sector, where singular archaeological contexts havebeen excavated in a special architectural complex, different from the typical localpattern. In view of these characteristics, the goals of this chapter are first to analyzethe differences in the intrasite space and its relationship with the immediate envi-ronment, taking into account accessibility and visibility as elements to definedefensibility; and second, to evaluate the results in relation to three fundamentalproblems for the Late and Inka Periods in Northwestern Argentina: intergroupconflicts, chronology, and social inequality.

Keywords Accessibility � Visibility � GIS � Pukara � Hualfín Valley

F. Wynveldt (&)Laboratorio de Análisis Cerámico, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo,Universidad Nacional de La Plata—CONICET, La Plata, Argentinae-mail: [email protected]

J. M. SallésLaboratorio de Análisis Cerámico, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo,Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentinae-mail: [email protected]

L. LópezInstituto de Recursos Minerales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata,CONICET, La Plata, Argentina

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018A. Álvarez Larrain and C. Greco (eds.), Political Landscapesof the Late Intermediate Period in the Southern Andes, The Latin AmericanStudies Book Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76729-1_2

11




1 Introduction

One of the main topics related to the history of Andean societies in the first half ofthe second millennium AD is intergroup conflict, which have been archaeologicallyprobed looking at defensive infrastructure, bio-archaeological signs of violence,depictions of confrontation and armed people, and even chronicles’ references topre-Inka warriors—auca runas—(Guaman Poma de Ayala 1615; Arkush andStanish 2005; Nielsen 2007; Arkush 2008). The beginnings of this warlike situationhave been linked to Pan-Andean climate change (Thompson et al. 1985; Abbottet al. 1997; Wolfe et al. 2001), and with both the fall of the great states of Tiwanakuand Wari that dominated the Middle Horizon period (Ortloff and Kolata 1993;Binford et al. 1997) and other social and political changes in NorthwesternArgentina (onwards NOA) and the North of Chile (Olivera et al. 2004; Maldonado2016; Zori and Brandt 2012).

Archaeological research in the Hualfín Valley (Dept. of Belén, Province ofCatamarca, Argentina) in the last decade has examined the issue of intergroupconflict in the landscape, analyzing defensive villages or sites with different levelsof protection (Wynveldt 2009a; Wynveldt and Balesta 2009, Wynveldt and Balesta2010; Balesta and Wynveldt 2010; Wynveldt and López Mateo 2010; Balesta et al.2011; Wynveldt et al. 2013; Wynveldt and Iucci 2015), traditionally associatedwith ‘Belén Culture’ and the ‘Late Period’ (AD 1000–1480) (González 1955;Sempé 1999). These conflicts indirectly reflect the insecure state or social tension inthose periods in the Andes. Although defensive architecture is clear, there is still nodirect evidence of intergroup conflict of physical violence. Many burials haveindividuals without their heads (Wynveldt 2009b), which in some contexts in otherparts of the Andes are interpreted as the product of violent actions because ofrevenge and/or as a consequence of the extraction of heads as trophies (Nielsen2007). But those practices do not necessarily imply direct physical violence as aresult of confrontation between different groups. In the various sites in the valley,obsidian projectile points are often found, probably used both as weapons inconfrontations and for hunting (Flores and Wynveldt 2009). And finally, the fre-quent finds of fires and collapsed roofs over occupation floors, in addition to theabandonment of the rooms, do not necessarily reflect violent events, as non-burialskeletons have not been found in the structures, and most archaeological contextshave clean floors (Valencia et al. 2009, 2010; Valencia and Balesta 2013).

Another problem related to ‘Belén’ sites is their chronology. The revision ofradiocarbon dates used to build the sequence of Belén phases, made possible by thenew dating for different sites—Cerro Colorado, Loma de Ichanga and CerritoColorado (La Ciénaga), Loma de los Antiguos and Campo de Carrizal (Asampay),La Estancia, Pukara de Palo Blanco (Palo Blanco), Pueblo Viejo (El Eje), ElMolino and Loma de la Escuela Vieja (Puerta de Corral Quemado)—has narrowedthe temporal ranges for dated events, placing them with a high probability at thebeginning of fifteenth century, with possible occupation during sixteenth century.These data have been interpreted as evidence of the abandonment of many of the

12 F. Wynveldt et al.

sites in the first half of the fifteenth century—when the Inka presence in the regionbegan—and the continuity in the occupation of others (Wynveldt and Iucci 2013;Wynveldt et al. 2017). However, new information is still needed to define moreprecisely the correlation of the use of these defensive sites with pre-Inka, Inka, andHispanic-Indigenous moments.

Finally, drawing on the spatial analysis and the different contexts and materialsrecovered in the sites, research has begun into the degree of social inequality duringthe ‘late moments’.1 Social inequality as an aspect associated with the Late orRegional Developments Period in the NOA (coincident with the Late IntermediatePeriod for Central Andean Area) is already implicit in the work that Gonzálezcarried out in the Hualfín Valley to build his master sequence (González 1955).Since the 1970s, several authors have defined this period as a moment of increasingdemographic growth, warfare, and territoriality, characterized by the emergence ofinstitutionalized power structures and complex political organizations (NúñezRegueiro 1974; Raffino 1988; Tarragó 1995; Sempé 1999, 2005). Referring to theHualfín Valley, Sempé (1999) defined the settlement pattern for ‘Belén’ sites andproposed a hierarchy that reflected the complexity of the social organization ofthese groups. The defined types of settlement are: agglomerated villages on hills,open villages on the high terraces of rivers, and villages formed by scatteredstructures between agricultural terraces. According to Sempé, the first of thesedeveloped at the time of the nucleation of the Belén culture as a señorío orchiefdom. Although it was also suggested that differences in concentration, popu-lation and the extension of agricultural lands indicate the existence of sites withdifferent functions (Sempé 1999).

In contrast to traditional perspectives, alternative interpretations of the types ofpolitical organizations of late societies of the NOA have recently emerged (Acuto2007; Leibowicz 2007; Leoni and Acuto 2008; Balesta et al. 2011). This is due toboth anthropological reviews of evolutionary schemes for the classification ofdifferent forms of sociopolitical organization, and the application of agency andpractice theories to archaeological research. These proposals call into question theexistence or at least the omnipresence of social hierarchies or formal politicalinstitutions in different regions, by reinterpreting the available evidence andincorporating new archaeological information. The new terms in which late soci-eties are described refer to communal integration, temporary leaderships, domesticproduction, the absence of luxury goods, and unrestricted access to resources. Inthis context, the problem for the Hualfín Valley is to determine if the archaeologicalrecord corresponds to the traditional idea of the Late Period or if an alternativeexplanation can be constructed from the most recent lines of study. Althoughthere are some differences in the configuration and size of the different sites, nomaterial evidence of clear social differences has yet been found. On the other hand,

1Considering the Late or Regional Developments Period in Northwestern Argentina extendsbetween AD 1000 and 1480, and that absolute chronology covers a period of time betweenapproximately AD 1300 and 1600, we choose to refer to the ‘Belén’ occupations’ in the HualfínValley as ‘late moments’ and ‘late sites.’

Defensibility Analysis with Geographical Information Systems … 13

the unrestricted distribution of different types of material objects, such as obsidian(Wynveldt and Flores 2014), or wooden resources (Valencia and Balesta 2013;Valencia et al. 2009, 2010) and the lack of centralization with specialization inpottery production (Iucci 2009, 2013, 2014), do not seem to point to the existenceof institutionalized power groups. In contrast, a defensive landscape and incipientdifferences into the sites could be evidence of explicit competition and/or latentconflicts for the acquisition and use of power (Balesta et al. 2011).

In this sense, it is necessary to address the available archaeological evidencefrom a perspective that, instead of an unsuccessful search for ‘the chief’s house,’allows us to analyze defensibility, spatiality, chronology, and evidence of everydaypractices in the pukaras, and thus be able to discuss different aspects of socialinequality in local groups for the previous moments of Inka conquest and during theTawantinsuyu.

The Cerro Colorado of La Ciénaga de Abajo (Fig. 1) is a site that has theelements to allow for an examination of the three subjects mentioned. In the firstplace, Cerro Colorado is undoubtedly a defensive site, in a broad sense, a pukara,since is located at the top of a 150 m hill, has walls on its more accessible hillsideand has naturally inaccessible areas. On the other hand, the radiocarbon datesobtained in the site tend to place it in the first half of the fifteenth century; that is,they can be associated with the beginning of the Inka conquest, although some datapoints to previous periods, and others to later times. And thirdly, Cerro Colorado asa village is one of the most important in the valley in view of the number ofstructures, in addition to the five topographically separated sectors with buildings.One of these ‘neighborhoods’ is the Central Sector, where particular areas havebeen excavated, revealing a special architectural complex, different from the typicallocal pattern. Taking into account all these characteristics, the goals of this chapterare first, to analyze the intrasite space and its relation with the immediate envi-ronment, taking into account both accessibility and visibility as elements to definedefensibility; and second, to evaluate the results in relation to intergroup conflicts,chronology, and social inequality.

Fig. 1 View of Cerro Colorado from the Belén or Hualfín River; the different sectors and hillocksare indicated


2 The Late Landscape of the Hualfín Valley

The Hualfín Valley is a large basin about 70 km long from north to south, and 20 kmwide east to west, located in the central-west part of Catamarca province (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Map of the Hualfín Valley, with the indication of late and Inka sites, and the presentlocations


Geomorphologically, the valley can be divided in two areas: The North, whichcomprises about 30 km, extending approximately from Cerro León Muerto to theconfluence of the Loconte River and the Hualfín River; and the South, from there tothe Shincal Mountain. The North is crossed by the Hualfín, Corral Quemado/SanFernando, Loconte and Villavil rivers, characterized by boxed courses and a veryirregular topography, with chains of sedimentary hills. In contrast, the South isdominated by the large regular space that forms the western foothills that descendfrom the Cerro Durazno Mountains to the Hualfín/Belén River. This river runs onthe east side of the valley, at the foot of the Atajo and Belén Mountains. Thus,unlike the North area, in the South area the valley is almost completely visible fromrelatively low places.

There are numerous archaeological sites in the valley that can be identified as‘late’ from the findings of Belén pottery or other late types found on the surface,such as Santa María, Famabalasto Negro Grabado, and Sanagasta pottery. Amongthese sites, there is an important diversity that includes a variety of types of burial(direct on the ground, in urns, in cists, under large blocks with a stone wall or pirca,and in stone rooms), accumulations of ceramic and/or lithic materials, isolated orsmall groups of stone rooms in the fields, little sets of rooms or large agglomera-tions of structures forming villages, both on the upper terraces of the rivers and onthe top of mesadas (flat hilltops) or higher hills or lomas, and extensive con-structions of cultivated terraces, with irrigation canals, water points, and ponds(Sempé 1999). If we refer strictly to sites that exceed four or five structures, theseare always located several meters above the level of the river beds. This type ofsettlement is remarkable, considering alongside the main courses—Hualfín/Belén,Ichanga, Corral Quemado/San Fernando—large wide terraces are ideal for humanoccupation, with direct access to water and easily irrigable fields.

The settlements located higher up have very different difficulties when it comesto access, since many of them are located on hills that are around 20–50 m high,while others are on hills of more than 100 m. In addition, the surface occupied bythe built space on the sites also varies greatly. From the Cerro Colorado’s 21 ha tothe hillock of San Fernando, with only half a hectare, the constructions occupy theinternal space in very different ways. Many sites, placed on naturally or artificiallywell-defined hills, extend their buildings into all or a good part of the space of theavailable surface.

In most of these villages, there are differences in elevation between their differentsectors. In Cerro Colorado, there are groups of houses or ‘neighborhoods’ at dif-ferent heights, while in Loma de la Escuela Vieja, El Molino, San Fernando, Lomade Palo Blanco, and Loma de los Antiguos, two levels of height for buildings aredistinguished. However, each site has its own characteristics regarding the locationof structures and their internal arrangement. In short, there is no defined pattern forsettlements, and each site is adapted to the variable hill surfaces, taking advantageof flat spaces. Moreover, the combination of the height factor with the topographicalirregularity that characterizes some sites (mainly Cerro Colorado and CerritoColorado, but also Cerro Pabellón, Loma de La Toma, and Loma de los Antiguos)


implies more obstacles for access and in some cases the addition of different typesof barriers, both natural and artificial.

Most of these villages have evident protection represented by more or lesssteeped slopes, cliffs, walls, and/or parapets. But some have quite accessible slopeswithout any protection. That is the case at Loma de Ichanga, the lower sector ofLoma de Palo Blanco, Loma de la Escuela Vieja, San Fernando, and Mesada de LaBanda. If these settlements were interpreted in classic defensive terms, the absenceof the typical elements of fortified sites would lead one to reject the idea of a needfor protection for its occupants. However, we believe that the evaluation of thedefensive nature of a settlement cannot be made in absolute terms, but consideringthe characteristics of the groups involved in a possible conflict, the generalsociopolitical context in which a site is located, and the particular character of therelations between these groups. Thus, good visibility plus perishable barriers couldbe effective in confrontations among small groups that carried weapons like thoseused in pre-Hispanic times.

Regarding chronology, we have revised radiocarbon dates used for the Belénphases and incorporated a significant number of new dates (Wynveldt et al.2017). Reassessment of dates obtained before the 1970s led us to question thechronological depth assigned to some of the dated sites, while new dating putmost of occupations between late fourteenth and late sixteenth centuries. Theseresults call into question the classically accepted chronology for the Late orRegional Developments Period in the Hualfín Valley (AD 1000–1480). Nooccupations that date from the beginning of the period were found, and somedates indicate later periods, although there is almost no material evidence in thesites that clearly reflects the influences of Inkas or Europeans on local groups.Furthermore, it is possible to state that, in contrast to the architectural differencesthat González identifies in the Belén phases (González 1955; González andCowgill 1975), there are no chronological differences between the isolated andagglutinated patterns of the sites; both configurations coexist, even in the samelocality. On the other hand, a group of dates are more probable for the first half ofthe fifteenth century, while others mostly date from the second half of the six-teenth century. In this regard, the virtual absence of Inka materials at local sites isremarkable. This fact leads one to consider, on the one hand, the idea of anabandonment of some defensive settlements at the time of the annexation to theTawantinsuyu and, on the other hand, the coexistence of local sites such as Lomade los Antiguos (Asampay) with the imperial presence in the region representedby Hualfín Inka, Quillay, El Shincal (Raffino 1988; Raffino et al. 1996; Lynch2010; Spina and Giovannetti 2014), and some sections of the Qapaq ñan or Inkaroad (Moralejo 2011).


3 Cerro Colorado of La Ciénaga de Abajo

The site of Cerro Colorado is located on the east bank of the Belén or HualfínRiver, opposite the present town of La Ciénaga de Abajo, on a hill 150 m high. Itwas discovered in 1908 by Carlos Bruch, who explored the place and projected apartial outline of a sector (Bruch 1913). In 1981, Sempé actually started archaeo-logical research in the site, describing and placing it in a regional context (Sempé1981). She associated the site with ‘Belén culture’ and mentioned the presence ofwalls, some of which ‘configure real walled balconies; thus, they acquire the role ofdefensive buildings’2 (Sempé 1981: 19). Further, she generally described archi-tectural structures on the hilltop and funerary cists ‘that still preserved skeletalremains and ceramic fragments of Belén Black on Red type, broken during thelootings’3 (Sempé 1981: 19). Some years later Sempé excavated a room (No 1,renamed Room 48 by our research team) and obtained a radiocarbon date (AC-364)(Sempé and Pérez Meroni 1988).

In 2004, research resumed on the site and its surroundings, doing systematicsurface collections, excavations in various structures, several radiocarbon dating(Table 1), a complete plan of the site, and the analysis of different types of materials(Balesta and Zagorodny 2010; Valencia et al. 2010; Flores 2013; Iucci 2013;Balesta et al. 2014).

The site consists of approximately 140 structures that might function as rooms,patios and farmyards, many funerary cists, and lots of containment and defensivewalls on slopes and hillocks. Its surface is irregular and includes cliffs along the eastand south sides, other less steep slopes full of obstacles such as deep gorges withnatural rock walls, hillocks of different heights and different kinds of spiny vege-tation, and some more regular spaces at the top, where the village itself is located,divided in five sectors: Northern, Central, Southern, Ridge 1, and Ridge 2 (Fig. 3).

4 The Central Sector and the Complex VIII

In the Central Sector (Fig. 4), the main and more agglomerated ‘neighborhood’ ofthe site highlights the Complex VIII: an aligned set of rectangular structures ofapproximately 11 m long, with different widths, in some cases with internal sub-divisions and accesses with passageways up to 2 m long, oriented northeast. Inaddition, some walls exceed 1.5 and 2 m wide and were built with two pircas orstone lines, filled with gravel and earth. These configuration and dimensions do notexist in other sectors in the site or other late sites in the valley. In fact, in ‘Belén’sites—including most of the built spaces in Cerro Colorado—there is predominance

2‘configuran verdaderos balcones pircados, o sea adquieren el carácter de avanzadas defensivas.’3‘que aún conservaban restos de esqueletos y fragmentos de cerámica Belén Negro sobre Rojo,rota durante el saqueo.’


of isolated rectangular structures, but with some also arranged in pairs, each con-sisting of a large rectangular enclosure attached to a smaller one. Both isolatedrooms and those joined in pairs were interpreted as living places—maybe familyhouses—composed by a closed space for rest and as a refuge, and an open space fordifferent domestic activities (Wynveldt et al. 2016). In Loma de los Antiguos and ElMolino, there is a central and different space with conglomerated structures(Wynveldt 2009; Iucci 2013), which could represent not only a place for singlefamilies. As these special spaces, Complex VIII in Cerro Colorado is a differentsector, considering its configuration and dimensions.

In Room 35 were found five post holes for roof support posts, some withremains of partially charred wood inside. In addition to this, many wide holes forlarge ordinary vessels were found. With respect to faunal remains there were 555bone specimens in the room, 48 of them identified as Artiodactyla –33 wereassigned to camelids, and one specifically to Vicugna vicugna. Butcher marks andtraces of thermo-alteration were identified in remains assigned to the largestmammals; 170 lithic artefacts were found, most of them made in local sedimentaryrocks, followed by obsidian macroscopically corresponding to Ona and Cueros dePurulla sources, located in the southern puna, more than 200 km away. Moreover, amortar and three possible pestles were found (Flores 2013). Recovered remains ofcorn, most of them without grains and all thermo-altered, allow one to determine

Table 1 Radiocarbon dates for Cerro Colorado de La Ciénaga de Abajo

Structure Sector Code Sample 14C AgeBP

AD Calibration (SHcal13 curve)

1 r (68.2% prob.) 2 r (95.4%prob.)

Room 35 Central(ComplexVIII)

LP-2760 Maize 290 ± 60 1509–1580(26.6%) 1621–1672 (25.9%)1743–1796 (15%)

1461–1700(70.2%)1722–1810(23.6%)

Room 2 Ridge 2 AA105209 Camelid 446 ± 25 1447–1486(68.2%)

1440–1504(84.9%)1591–1615(10.5%)


AA100176 Maize 478 ± 38 1429–1465 (60%)1467–1477(8.2%)

1411–1502(89.7%)1593–1614(5.7%)

Room 2 Ridge 2 AA94600 Maize 493 ± 34 1428–1456(68.2%)

1408–1488(95.4%)


AA85880 Humanbone

539 ± 43 1409–1443(68.2%)

1327–1340(1.9%)1390–1460(93.5%)

Room 48(ex-Room 1)

Central AC-364 Charcoal 760 ± 90 1223–1320(50.5%) 1350–1386 (17.7%)

1151–1416(95.4%)


eight different groups of maize. From this information, we can assume that Room35 was a semi-covered space related to the processing of food, including the pro-duction of chicha or maize beer (Balesta et al. 2014) (Fig. 5).

The excavation of Room 36 allowed us to recover macro carbonized remainsthat corresponded to the roof, which collapsed onto the floor after a large fire(Valencia et al. 2010). Referring to pottery, an almost complete Belén jar wasreconstructed. In addition, a singular lithic ball, approximately 35 mm in diameter,with fine incisions, obsidian artefacts, and a bronze semilunar knife, similar toothers from late pre-Inka contexts, were found. On the southwest wall, three infantskeletons in two ordinary ceramic urns were found; one of these vessels wascovered by a Belén bowl, and the other by an ordinary bowl (Figs. 5 and 6).

In short, we can assert that the Central Sector, and Complex VIII in particular,with its singular spatial configuration and architecture, as well as the contexts foundin Rooms 35 and 36, represent a differentiated space, not only in relation to otherspaces and contexts on the site, but also with respect to the majority of late sitesknown in the valley.

Fig. 3 Plan of Cerro Colorado and its five sectors


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