Tiwanaku colonization and the great reach west: Preliminary results of the Locumba Archaeological Survey 2015-2016

Summary

Locumba represents a key intermediate location for consideration of the timing and affiliation of Tiwanaku colonization of the Moquegua, Sama, Caplina and Azapa valleys. Models of Tiwanaku state colonization, diasporic enclaves, and a "daisy chain" of secondary and tertiary colonization from initial provinces in Moquegua are considered. Ongoing systematic regional survey in the 2015 and 2016 seasons of the Locumba Archaeological Project has defined 74 site sectors, including 16 sectors of Tiwanaku affiliation, in the Cinto and Salado tributaries (600 - 1000 masl). 2016 fieldwork delineated the three Tiwanaku residential sectors of the multicomponent site of Cerro San Antonio (L1 with systematic surface collection and test excavations. Excavations suggests a typical Tiwanaku V occupation with functional distinctions between sectors and one small ceremonial structure. Ceramics connect to other Tiwanaku V assemblages of the western valleys, with a majority presence resembling Moquegua’s Chen Chen style, along with local and other Tiwanaku regional variants (Tumilaca, Cabuza). Comparison suggests contemporaneity and a degree of social relationship with the Moquegua colony, leaving open the possibility of the daisy chain model. However, differences in motif distribution also suggest independent social, stylistic and exchange ties to both the altiplano and the Norte Grande.

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): 17264