Radiocarbon Chronology of the Inca Expansion in Argentina

GARCÍA, ALEJANDRO; MORALEJO, REINALDO A.; OCHOA, PABLO ADOLFO

Antípoda - Revista de Antropología y Arqueología

Universidad de los Andes

Lugar: Bogotá; Año: 2021 p. 51 - 83

1900-5407

The purpose of this article is to broaden the information available on the chronology of the Inca expansion in Collasuyu by analyzing all radiocarbon dates obtained in Argentina?s Inca sites. We evaluated and classifid all the dates (n=178) into three diffrent groups (G1, G2, and G3), according to the quantity and quality of contextual information, and the possibility of effectively verifying this information through published articles. The interpretation was mainly based on the dates showing the best information regarding the origin and context of the samples (28 of the G1, and 36 of the G2). Our results indicate that the Inca advance started towards the beginnings of 15th Century AD in the northern most part of Argentina and rapidly continued southwards, probably reaching the province of Mendoza some 50 years later. This study confims the diffrences between the ethnohistoric chronology and the radiocarbon data, previously pointed out by other authors. Moreover, it suggests a sequence of at least three stages in which the Incas would have incorporated the existent territories until ca. 24°, 28°, and 34°30?S, respectively. This is the first global study of Inca chronology in Argentina, and the first time that dates are classified to determine their level of context information and reliability.