Chacras of the pukara: the late occupation (tenth-sixteenth centuries) of Mesada de Andalhuala Banda, Yocavil (Catamarca, Argentina)

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of archaeological survey undertaken in the Mesada de Andalhuala Banda, Southeast Yocavil Valley, Catamarca, Northwest Argentina (NWA). Three hundred and eighty-two architectural units (AU) were registered, which suggests a prolonged occupation during the first and second millennia AD. In this opportunity, I will focus on the Late Period occupation tenth?sixteenth centuries) and the evidence reflecting activities of the agricultural production cycle, including structures for cultivation, mounds, and longitudinal accumulation of stones that were the product of land clearing, irrigation systems, milling tools, and circular storage structures. Spatially associated with these features are simple and compound residential units with double-faced walls filled with rubble and sediment, morphology assignable to the Santa María culture, which could be the dwelling sector of the population tasked with food production. This information allowed us to hypothesize that the Mesada, as a main productive area, was occupied during the entire Late Period, a time that included climate change and interethnic conflict, and played an important role in relation to the nearby pukara settlement.