Sacred Spaces and Ideology in the Pambamarca Fortress Complex

Summary

In the northern Andes of Ecuador just north of Quito lies the Pambamarca Fortress Complex. This region was one of the last to fall to the Inca in the late 1490's/1500's as they expanded their empire, and they met great resistance from the indigenous societies of Northern Ecuador. Fighting occurred for over a decade and power strategies changed to conquer this region. These struggles are apparent, best seen through the high number of Inca fortifications and enclosures throughout the landscape. The highest concentration are found in the Pambamarca Fortress Complex, which is defined by several large fortified sites, and six smaller high elevation enclosures which served as outposts, economic way stations, or sacred landscape spaces. This paper will focus on research completed at three small sites in the PFC ( Pi12, Pi13 and Pi15), and will discuss their ideological and geographical importance to the Inca during their struggle. These three sites afford us the opportunity to discuss Inca ideological and religious attributes, and to explore their sacred landscape, especially in areas associated with war and conquest towards the end of their empire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage