Landscapes and Chronology of the Chullpa Phenomenon within the Lauca Basin (18°S)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Carangas region, named after a late prehispanic and early colonial chiefdom in Qollasuyu (south-central Andes), preserves over 600 chullpa mausoleums associated with walled hilltops, administrative centers (tambos), and regional movement routes. Carangas’s chullpas exhibit a great diversity of architecture, as well as geographical and territorial settings. The highest concentration of chullpas is found in the Lauca basin, a high-altitude and low-demography region, with clusters including adobe constructive traditions, exceptional polychrome paintings, and Cuzco-style stone masonry. Supported by the UCL IoA PhD program and the Redes andinas project (Incipit-CSIC), this study is carrying out a regional approach in the Lauca basin to research the variability of chullpas’ chronology and landscape setting within this region. On the one hand, an AMS radiocarbon dating protocol reveals the diachrony of the chullpa phenomenon from the Late Intermediate period through the colonial period. On the other hand, computational modelling of chullpas’ architectural and locational characteristics has allowed us to assess chullpa placemaking’s rationales, which seem to have changed over time. By examining both chronological and locational variations, this research aims to discuss the role chullpas played in ancient landscapes, bringing together the living, the ancestors, the mountains, water sources, and agricultural fields.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39894.0