Preliminary Investigations into the Site of Chullpa K’asa in Southwestern Bolivia

Summary

The site of Chullpa K’asa, located in the Potosí Department of southwestern Bolivia, covers an area of around 45 hectares and contains the ruins of dozens of Prehispanic buildings. This poster presents the results of preliminary investigations of the site based on pedestrian ground survey and an assessment of artifacts housed at a nearby Indigenous museum. Systematic survey and mapping, which included the recording of surface artifacts at 43 locations across the site, revealed two areas of concentrated architecture, one area of tombs, abundant ceramic sherds, groundstone tools, and evidence of metal production. Based on survey data and the artifacts housed in the museum, the site appears to have been occupied from the Intermediate onward to the Late Horizon Period, roughly coinciding with the end of Tiwanakan influence, subsequent occupation by warring polities in the Late Intermediate Period, and finally the invasion of the Inca as they established the southern extent of their empire. Artifactual and architectural data provide a basis to interpret the function of the site as a frontier of the Incan Empire, develop research questions for future investigations at the site, and contribute to the sparse amount of archaeological information concerning this area of the world.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20315