Archaeologists are preparing to investigate a possible Inca ceremonial geoglyph discovered at an altitude of approximately 3,000 metres in the Andes of Argentina.
The archaeological site is located in the Cordillera del Tigre in Mendoza Province, where a series of stone structures form interconnected spaces, channels and passageways arranged in circular and rectangular configurations.
The site was initially identified using Google Earth by mountaineer Carlos Gobbi, who later confirmed the structures during a three-day expedition on foot.
Researchers from the University Institute for Research in Iberian Archaeology at the University of Jaén (UJA) will now join an international archaeological expedition to determine the function and chronology of the complex.
According to the researchers, its scale and geometric arrangement are sufficiently extensive for the structures to be clearly observed from the air.
“Our working hypothesis is that it is a geoglyph or an element with ritual connotations, whose construction and use date back to the Inca period or perhaps even earlier,” said Mario Gutiérrez of the University of Jaén.
If an Inca origin is confirmed, the site could provide further evidence for ceremonial activity close to the southern limits of Tahuantinsuyo, the Inca Empire.
The complex is situated near known centres of Inca activity, including Tambo de Ranchillos in the Uspallata Valley, and may also have been connected with the Qhapaq Ñan, the extensive road network that linked settlements and administrative centres throughout the Inca world.
The expedition, which has received official permission to begin during the forthcoming southern hemisphere summer, is being co-directed by Cristina Prieto-Olavarría of IANIGLA-CONICET and Horacio Chiavazza of the National University of Cuyo in Argentina, alongside Gutiérrez from the University of Jaén.
Researchers will conduct a detailed architectural and archaeological survey to establish how the site developed and whether different structures were constructed during separate phases of occupation.
The team will employ drone-based photogrammetry, digital mapping and high-precision GPS to produce detailed records and high-resolution aerial imagery of the complex. Sedimentary analyses will also be undertaken to investigate evidence of human occupation.
The investigation forms part of the Arqueoandes project, which studies changes to high-altitude landscapes in the Mendoza Andes associated with Inca expansion, Spanish colonisation and the later formation of the Argentine nation-state.
The project will also work with Indigenous communities in the region to incorporate traditional knowledge and cultural interpretations of the Andean landscape into the archaeological research.
Further fieldwork will be required to determine whether the complex was constructed during the Inca period, originated before the expansion of Tahuantinsuyo, or represents a site that was developed and modified over an extended period.
Sources : UJAEN
