A Chronological Approach to the Administrative Center of Hualfín Inka, Catamarca, Argentina

Abstract

The Tawantinsuyu spread along the Andes from the south of Colombia to center of Chile and Argentine Northwest, incorporating along this territory cultural and environmental diverse population. It is well known, through the analysis of the different chronicles registered for the Inka´s Empire, that the incorporation of the Argentine Northwest to the Tawantinsuyu was at 1471 A.D., under the domination of Topa Inka Yupanqui. Nevertheless, in the last decades new dates has been obtained for Inka´s archaeological sites founded along Argentina and Chile, which show an early occupation, some of them dating from the beginning of the 15th century. This paper presents archaeological information from spatial, architectural, chronological and material analyses from Hualfín Inka (Hualfín, Catamarca). The aim is reconstructing the site functionality and its relationship to sociopolitical aspects in Hualfin Valley during Inca´s occupation in Northwest Argentina. The results from excavations allowed us to identifiy sectors with Inka public architecture, such as kallankas, ushnu, intrawalls square, and at the same time we found sectors for common life activities, pointing that the site was an administrative center for the first time of Inca´s occupation in this region.