Desde la perspectiva de la isla: el ordenamiento territorial incaico en la transecta andina Arica-Carangas (18° S)

Abstract

Estudiamos el imperialismo incaico en el contexto de las formaciones socioterritoriales del Colesuyu durante la época prehispánica tardía (siglos quince y dieciséis). Por su poblamiento con alto grado de multietnicidad e imbricación socioterritorial, además de su heterogeneidad biogeográfica entre el Pacífico y el Altiplano, esta región de los Valles Occidentales de los Andes Centro-Sur planteó un reto geopolítico para su integración imperial. Nos interesamos aquí por el caso de los Altos de Arica, que los archivos coloniales describen como un espacio multiétnico, con complejos sistemas de asentamiento interdigitados, extendidos entre el altiplano de Carangas y el litoral de Arica. A partir de un catastro arqueogeográfico, complementado con datos de excavaciones y dataciones, analizamos el proceso de ordenamiento incaico del valle precordillerano de Belén (ca. 3.000 m snm), el cual era conocido como Tocoroma en los archivos coloniales y constituía la principal isla del archipiélago carangas en la vertiente occidental andina del 18° S. Evidenciamos la producción de un paisaje agrícola imperial en el valle y discutimos la función nodal de Tocoroma-Belén en el contexto de la integración socioterritorial de la transecta Arica-Carangas. Asimismo, el estudio confirma el protagonismo del Tawantinsuyu en la estructuración de los archipiélagos verticales de los Andes Centro-Sur, además de documentar la diversidad de los dispositivos de hegemonía imperial implementados para este fin.

The making of an imperial agricultural landscape in the Valley of Belén

“…The Sierra region was an extensive agricultural landscape: satellite imagery shows that today, on average, 10 per cent of the land under 3900m asl is terraced, and up to 30 per cent in the Valley of Belén. The aridity of the region does not permit rain-fed agriculture; annual rainfall over the past 40 years has averaged only 150mm, with rain concentrated in three months of the year (from December to February), and with irregular inter-annual variability, including recurrent dry years (Morales et al 2012;Saintenoy et al 2019).…”

“…At the beginning of the second millennium, a widespread village-based settlement pattern developed across the sierra region, with associated evidence for extensive agricultural planning, including elaborate hydraulic systems for water redistribution between watersheds (Saintenoy et al 2017). During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, this territory was incorporated into the Inca Empire, and thus was integrated into its system of socio-territorial control based on a network of imperial infrastructures distributed across the different ecological levels between the Altiplano and the Pacific coast (Saintenoy et al 2019).…”

“…The western window looks towards the rocky summit of Huaihuarani, whose stone walls are still visible from Incahullo. Huaihuarani comprises the remains of the largest residential settlement of the region, in which the Inca Empire built a ceremonial landscape around the rocky summit (Saintenoy et al 2019). It is notable that, for two periods of 20 days per year (approximately 2-22 April and 21 August-9 September), the western window faces the setting Sun behind the Huaihuarani rocky summit.…”

“…The aridity of the region does not permit rain-fed agriculture; annual rainfall over the past 40 years has averaged only 150mm, with rain concentrated in three months of the year (from December to February), and with irregular inter-annual variability, including recurrent dry years (Morales et al 2012; Saintenoy et al . 2019).…”

Walking and Stumbling on the Paths of Heritage-making for Rural Development in the Arica Highlands

“…Since prehispanic times, this transect has been characterized by the socioeconomic and cultural interactions of distinct ecological zones because of the complementarity of their resources and economic potentials (Murra 2012). The intensity of these interactions has varied throughout history, with different phases of socioterritorial integration and segregation according to political situations and climatic conditions (Saintenoy et al 2019).…”