A View from the Past: A Reanalysis of Archaeological Collections from the Sama Valley and its Implications for Current Models and Chronologies of the Southern Andean Valleys

Summary

Although limited in area compared to the neighboring Moquegua, Caplina, and Azapa valleys, the Sama valley (Departamento Tacna, Peru) with its the warm temperature, perennial water sources and arable flood plain creates hospitable conditions for highlanders who settled the valley as early as Late Horizon period. In his 1567 visita, Garci Diez de San Miguel notes the presence of a Luqapa colony and an Inca Tambo at the site of Sama Grande near the modern town of Sama-Inclan. In addition, survey and test excavations by German and Peruvian archaeologists under the direction of Hermann Trimborn between 1972 and 1975 registered Formative, Middle Horizon, and Late Intermediate period sites throughout the valley. In this paper I present the results of a re-analysis of materials collected by Trimborn and his collaborators. The goal is to compare the original project notes and artifacts with current ceramic chronologies for this region, and to re-evaluate past and present interpretations and models related to presence of highland populations in the Western coastal valleys of the southern Andes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• El Extremo Sur/El Extremo Norte: Recent Research on Mobility and Verticality in the Peru-Chile Borderlands

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15166