Political Landscapes of the Late Intermediate Period in the Southern Andes : The Pukaras and Their Hinterlands

This book studies the relationship between pukaras and their surrounding landscape, focusing on the architectural and settlement variability registered in both contexts. It is the outcome of a symposium held at the XIX National Congress of Argentine Archaeology (San Miguel de Tucuman, August 8–12, 2016) entitled, "Pukaras, strategic settlements and dispersed settlements: Political landscapes of the Late Intermediate Period in the Southern Andes." Based on the topics discussed at the event, this book presents nine case studies covering a large geographic area within the Southern Andes (northwestern Argentina, northern Chile and southern Bolivia), and breaking the national barriers that tend to atomize pre-Hispanic landscapes. The respective chapters cover a wide range of themes: from architectural and settlement variability, ways to build and inhabit space, social segmentation and hierarchy; to endemic conflict, analysis of accessibility and visibility, spatiality and temporality of landscapes; as well as new dating. This book goes beyond the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) analyses from the perspective of fortified settlements and material evidence related to war, by placing the focus on how ancient political landscapes were constructed from the relation between the pukaras and other sites as part of the same territory. The methodologies used include pedestrian surveys, photogrammetric surveys with UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) or drones, topographic and architectural surveys, excavations of households, ceramic and rock art analysis, and spatial analysis with geographic information systems (GISs). Given the numerous thematic interconnections between the contributions, the Editors have organized the chapters geographically, moving from south to north: from the southern valleys of Catamarca Province in Argentina to Lipez in the southern part of the Bolivian Altiplano, passing through the Calchaqui valleys of Catamarca, the puna and Quebrada de Humahuaca of Jujuy in northwest Argentina and the Antofagasta region in northern Chile. The book provides valuable new theoretical and methodological perspectives on the study of political landscapes of the Late Intermediate Period in the Southern Andes . Contents 6 About the Editors 8 Reviewers of this Volume 9 1 Introduction 10 Abstract 10 References 17 2 Defensibility Analysis with Geographical Information Systems in a Pukara in the Hualfín Valley, Argentina 19 Abstract 19 Introduction 20 The Late Landscape of the Hualfín Valley 23 Cerro Colorado of La Ciénaga de Abajo 26 The Central Sector and the Complex VIII 26 Analysis with GIS 29 5.1 Accessibility Analysis 31 5.2 Visibility Analysis 35 5.3 In Brief 36 Cerro Colorado in the Regional ‘Late’ Context 37 References 39 3 Photogrammetric Survey with UAV of Strategic Villages of Yocavil (Catamarca, Argentina) 43 Abstract 43 1 Introduction 44 2 Strategic Villages of Yocavil in the Late Period 44 3 Photogrammetric Survey with UAV 50 4 Results and Discussion 52 4.1 Comparing DJI Phantom 1 and Phantom 4 Experiences 52 4.2 Comparing Quality Options in Agisoft PhotoScan 54 4.3 Vegetation Cover 56 4.4 Archaeological Analysis-Ready By-Products 60 5 Conclusions 63 Acknowledgements 64 References 65 4 Chacras of the Pukara: The Late Occupation (Tenth–Sixteenth Centuries) of Mesada De Andalhuala Banda, Yocavil (Catamarca, Argentina) 69 Abstract 69 1 Introduction 70 2 Study Area 71 3 Methodology 75 4 Results of Architectural Survey 76 5 Study of Surface Ceramic Material 90 6 Test Pits and Radiocarbon Dating 91 7 Discussion 96 8 Final Remarks 97 Acknowledgements 98 References 98 5 The Monumentalization of Dwelling Spaces in West-Central Santa María Valley During the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1450), Northwest Argentina 103 Abstract 103 Introduction 103 Settlements of the Cajón Mountain Range During the Late Intermediate Period 105 2.1 Morro Del Fraile 105 2.2 El Carmen 1 111 Movement Analysis: Circulation Patterns at Two Late Intermediate Period Villages 113 3.1 Approaching the Villages 114 3.2 Movement Between Structures 117 Visibility Analysis: Strategies of Visibility at Two Late Intermediate Period Villages 119 4.1 Visibility of Each Village from the Santa María Valley 120 4.2 Visibility from Each of the Sectors of the Villages to the Santa María Valley 120 Monumentalization of the Dwelling Space 129 Acknowledgements 134 References 134 6 Regional Dynamics in the High Quebradas of the Valle Calchaquí Medio (Salta, Argentina) Between the Eleventh and Early Seventeenth Centuries 138 Abstract 138 Introduction 138 1.1 The High Ravines in the Valle Calchaquí Medio: Environment and Archaeology 140 1.2 RDP Evidences 141 Inka Occupation in the Area 149 Interaction and Pottery Circulation 152 Conclusions 157 Acknowledgements 160 References 160 7 New Approaches to the Chullparian Architecture and Their Spatial Location Within Pucará de Turi (Antofagasta Region, Northern Chile) 164 Abstract 164 Background and Problem Statement 164 Methodological and Theoretical Framework 168 Results 169 Interpretation 181 Discussion 184 Conclusions 188 Acknowledgements 190 References 190 8 Interethnic Conflicts in the Highlands of Northwestern Argentina During the Late Intermediate Period: A Case Study 194 Abstract 194 Introduction 195 The Study Area: Jujuy’s Puna 196 Pucaras in Jujuy’s Puna 198 Rock Paintings in the Central Area of Jujuy’s Puna 206 Discussion 219 Conclusions 222 References 222 9 An Approach to Spatial Configuration in the Regional Developments Period in the Coranzulí Area (Jujuy Province, Argentina) 226 Abstract 226 Introduction 226 1.1 State of the Art 228 Description of the Area of Study and the Archaeological Sites 229 2.1 Yerbaijo 231 2.2 Canalita 235 2.3 Licante 239 Discussion 245 3.1 The Connection with Casabindo 245 3.2 Relations Between Settlements 246 3.3 The Place of the Ancestors 247 References 249 10 Agropastoral Taskscapes and Seasonal Warfare in the Southern Andes During the Regional Developments Period (Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries) 253 Abstract 253 Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy, Argentina) 255 Northern Lípez (Potosí, Bolivia) 261 Discussion 268 Acknowledgements 273 References 273 Index 275 Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction (Alina Álvarez Larrain, Catriel Greco, Federico Wynveldt)....Pages 1-9 Defensibility Analysis with Geographical Information Systems in a Pukara in the Hualfín Valley, Argentina (Federico Wynveldt, Juan Manuel Sallés, Luciano López)....Pages 11-34 Photogrammetric Survey with UAV of Strategic Villages of Yocavil (Catamarca, Argentina) (Catriel Greco)....Pages 35-60 Chacras of the Pukara: The Late Occupation (Tenth–Sixteenth Centuries) of Mesada De Andalhuala Banda, Yocavil (Catamarca, Argentina) (Alina Álvarez Larrain)....Pages 61-94 The Monumentalization of Dwelling Spaces in West-Central Santa María Valley During the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1450), Northwest Argentina (Victoria Coll Moritan)....Pages 95-129 Regional Dynamics in the High Quebradas of the Valle Calchaquí Medio (Salta, Argentina) Between the Eleventh and Early Seventeenth Centuries (Verónica Isabel Williams)....Pages 131-156 New Approaches to the Chullparian Architecture and Their Spatial Location Within Pucará de Turi (Antofagasta Region, Northern Chile) (Cristián González-Rodríguez)....Pages 157-186 Interethnic Conflicts in the Highlands of Northwestern Argentina During the Late Intermediate Period: A Case Study (María Ester Albeck, María Elena de los Ángeles Tejerina, Domingo Chorolque, José Luis Tolaba, Paula Arévalo)....Pages 187-218 An Approach to Spatial Configuration in the Regional Developments Period in the Coranzulí Area (Jujuy Province, Argentina) (María Carolina Rivet)....Pages 219-245 Agropastoral Taskscapes and Seasonal Warfare in the Southern Andes During the Regional Developments Period (Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries) (Axel E. Nielsen)....Pages 247-268 Back Matter ....Pages 269-271