The Interior Frontier: Intercultural Exchange in the Formative Period (1000 B.C.-A.D. 400) of Quillagua, Antofagasta Region, northern Chile

Summary

Today the modern village of Quillagua, an oasis in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, is of limited regional economic importance. However, there is strong evidence to support the argument that, in the past, the village was a node of ancient routes linking the populations of the Pampa, the Pacific Coast, the River Loa, and the Salar of Atacama. Documents from the 18th century suggest that Quillagua was, in fact, an "internal frontier" between populations residing to the north and south of the oasis. Archaeological evidence indicates that this border function may have its origins as early as the Formative Period (1000 B.C.-A.D. 400). In this work, we present the results of bioarchaeological, funerary, and isotopic analysis of individuals from distinct spatial/ethnic precincts of Quillagua, as well as settlements and cemeteries in the surrounding regions, in an attempt to characterize the direction, frequency, and intensity of interaction, exchange, and interculturation in the region during the Formative. In essence, we seek to examine how the border function of Quillagua was embodied and internalized by the people who lived and died in its environs.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Re-pensando la/s Movilidad/es Andina/s: Nuevas Perspectivas en Torno al Viaje, Contacto, Interacción, Intercambio y Obtención de Recursos en los Andes Centro-Sur   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14990