Far South: An altiplanic settlement in Northwestern Argentina

Summary

Pueblo Viejo de Tucute is the southernmost prehispanic (Late Intermediate Period) settlement with altiplanic roots so far recorded. It has nearly 600 dwellings installed in the mountain range southwest from Casabindo in the Puna de Jujuy, an altiplano like highland. The site is unique in the area, with particular architectonic features that differ from contemporaneous sites (Puna de Jujuy, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Valle Calchaquí). The houses are round, well built in cut stone with a diameter that ranges from 4 to 6 meters. Several findings recovered during excavation resemble some from the Peruvian and Bolivian Altiplano, as described in colonial chronicles and ethnographic investigations although some characteristics are peculiar to the site. A brook clearly divides the settlement area in two, and in the middle rises a pucara presumably occupied only in times of conflict. 26 radiocarbon dates establish its occupation from the end of the 10th Century to the first half of the 15th Century. The early radiocarbon dating of the site outranges by a couple of centuries the moment proposed for the massive migrations of highland people in the Andes, due to climatic stress by drought during the 12th and 13th Century.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15331