Recent Research in Copacabana, Bolivia, the Intinkala Sector

Summary

Copacabana has been a pilgrimage destination and a site of extraordinary reverence from Formative times to the present. Together with the Islands of the Sun and Moon, it formerly comprised one the most sacred ceremonial complexes in the Inca Empire. Recent archaeological research in Copacabana has focused on the Intinkala sector located just east of the modern basilica. The principal aim of the first season was to ascertain the nature of Inca engagement with this powerful locale as evidenced through spatial and material patterns and practices. Fieldwork conducted in 2016 included a geophysical survey of the area, photogrammetric documentation of the cutstones, topographic mapping of the site, and excavations. The excavations produced evidence of both large and small rectangular structures associated with the above-ground sculpted stones and outcrops, as well as an Inca midden. Subsequent analyses have focused on 3D spatial rendering of features identified, compositional study of the variety of Inca ceramics recovered using INAA, and comparative assessments. The study ultimately aims to provide insights into the ways in which topographies of the sacred are constructed; how attachments to place are formed and transformed over time; and how power, place, and identity are materially and mutually constituted.

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): 20979