Pre-hispanic agricultural dynamics in the Quebrada of Morohuasi (Salta, Argentina)

CRUZ, PABLO; JOFFRE, RICHARD; WINKEL, THIERRY; ROUX, BRUNO; VITRY, CHRISTIAN

Nawpa Pacha

Routledge

Lugar: Berkeley; Año: 2022

0077-6297

The Quebrada de Morohuasi (Salta, Argentina), located in a semi-arid high-altitude environment, is known to host vast pre-Hispanic cultivation areas. Recent archaeological studies carried out in the agricultural area of Morohuasi allow for a better definition and understanding of the social and productive dynamics that took place there. Field records and AMS dating indicate two main productive phases that were discontinuous in time. These show an initial phase during the Formative Period, between the first and fourth centuries CE, during which the agricultural substratum was formed, and a final phase during the first decades of the fifteenth century CE that was related to the establishment of an agricultural colony under the control of the Inkas. Although the same cultivation plots were utilized during both phases, the mode and relations of production were substantially different, particularly in the second phase with the participation of contingents of mitmaqkunas brought from other regions.