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

As the Inca Empire was predominantly agrarian, the integration of local farming communities into a corporate agricultural system constituted a great challenge for the imperial political economy. The authors thus analyse an unusual circular structure in the Altos de Arica region of northern Chile, wh...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Saintenoy, Thibault, González-García, A. César, Crespo Fernández, Marta
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:digitalcsic_::fe3d133517bb34e6800d6588fb712459
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/208855
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Andes
Inca
Archaeoastronomy
Agriculture
Imperialism
Timekeeping
Descripción
Sumario:As the Inca Empire was predominantly agrarian, the integration of local farming communities into a corporate agricultural system constituted a great challenge for the imperial political economy. The authors thus analyse an unusual circular structure in the Altos de Arica region of northern Chile, which resembles an important building - called 'sunturhuasi' - in the capital, Cusco. They explore this structure using three-dimensional modelling, identifying its probable use in astronomical observations and hence its clear connection with the Inca agricultural calendar, ultimately suggesting that it was central to an imperial built environment related to the political economy of maize production.