Water, mines and wak’a at Belen valley in the highlands of Arica: the Inca making of a central place within the Andean transect of Arica and Parinacota (18°S)

Summary

Located on the edge of the Atacama Desert at the foot of the Carangas Altiplano, the Belén Valley witnessed substantial construction of imperial infrastructures during the late pre-Hispanic period. The Inca occupation was mainly related to agriculture, metallurgy and a sanctuary. The Belén Valley contains, in fact, the most important water resources in the upper basin of Azapa, copper and tin mines and an important mountain summit, which formed both economic and symbolic resources of special interest for the Empire's political economy and religious purposes. In addition to explaining the characteristics of the Inca occupation at Belen based on the results of recent archaeological research, this presentation will develop a multi-scalar perspective to identify the specificities of the territorial situation of Belén, following a comparison with the Inca occupation of the surrounding areas: the Carangas Altiplano, the coastal valleys of Arica and the Tacna sierra.

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): 17068