Pukara ( Aymara and

Quechuan Quechua (, ; ), usually called ("people's language") in Quechuan languages, is an indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely ...

"fortress", Hispanicized spellings ''pucara, pucará'') is a defensive hilltop site or fortification built by the prehispanic and historic inhabitants of the central Andean area (from Ecuador to

central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaís ...

and northwestern Argentina). In some cases, these sites acted as temporary fortified refuges during periods of increased conflict, while other sites show evidence for permanent occupation. Emerging as a major site type during the Late Intermediate Period (c. 1000-1430AD), the pukara form was adopted in some areas by the Inca military in contested borderlands of the Inca Empire. The Spanish also referred to the Mapuche earthen forts built during the Arauco War in the 16th and 17th centuries by this term. Today, the term is commonly found in

toponyms Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

of the Andes region, e.g.

Andalicán Andalicán during the era of conquest and colonial times in Chile was the name of the high hill in the middle of two ravines and site of a fortress built by the Mapuche in 1557 to prevent García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete, García H ...

, Pucará de Angol,

Camiña Camiña is a Chilean commune and village in El Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region. According to the 2002 census, the commune population was 1,275 and has an area of . Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institut ...

, Cañete, Nama, Quiapo, Tilcara, Turi, Pucara del Cerro La Muralla,

Pukara of La Compañía Pukara de La Compañia is an archaeological site containing the remains of a promaucae fortress, later used by the Incas, located on the large hill overlooking the village of La Compañia, a village in the commune of Graneros, Chile. It is the so ...

, Pukara de

Lasana Lasana is a small village located northeast of the city of Calama in the Calama province of Chile's northern Antofagasta Region. It sits along the banks of the Loa River. Pukará de Lasana, (Quechua ''pukara'' fortress), a pre-Columbian fortress ...

Pucará de Belén The Pucará culture was an archaeological culture which developed in Qullaw, along the north-western shore of Lake Titicaca. It was characterized by a hierarchy of sites made up several smaller centers and villages scattered throughout the north ...

Pukará de Quitor Pukará de Quitor (also spelled Pucará de Quitor) (Quechua ''pukara'' fortress) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in northern Chile. This stone fortress is located 3 km northwest of the town of San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Ataca ...

and Puka Pukara.

Number and location of Inca pukaras

Inca pukaras were mostly located near the frontiers of the Inca Empire. The greatest concentration is in northern Ecuador, indicating that the Incas encountered the sternest resistance to their expansion there, an assumption confirmed by the early Spanish chroniclers of Inca history. North of

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, the Incas met stiff opposition from several chiefdoms, collectively called the Pais Caranqui. The

Pambamarca Fortress Complex The Pambamarca Fortress Complex consists of the ruins of a large number of pukaras (hilltop forts) and other constructions of the Inca Empire. The fortresses were constructed in the late 15th century by the Incas to overcome the opposition of the ...

was a group of pukaras built by the Incas to prosecute the war against the Cayambe people. Other pukaras grouped around the town of Caranqui facilitated the final defeat of the chiefdoms and their incorporation into the Inca Empire. These wars probably took place between 1490 and 1520. Peru has hundreds of towns, ruins, and locations with the name of Pucara, however it is not known how many of these sites were actually built or maintained during the Inca Empire or if were actual fortresses in first place, as it has been customary since the colony to designate as ''pucara'' whichever place seemingly appearing to have been a fortress, despite the fact that it may have never been used as such. The table following is a rough count of the number and location of Inca pukaras which are known to archaeologists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pukara Geography of South America Fortifications in Argentina Fortifications in Bolivia Pre-Columbian fortifications in Chile Fortifications in Peru Indigenous topics of the Andes Indigenous architecture of the Americas