The Pucará culture was an

archaeological culture An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...

which developed in

Qullaw The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on ...

, along the north-western shore of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...

. It was characterized by a hierarchy of sites made up several smaller centers and villages scattered throughout the northern basin of the Titicaca, ruled from its nucleus - the town of

Pukara Pukara (Aymara and Quechuan "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 and no ...

(from which the given name derives) with an approximate extension of 6 square kilometers, constituted the first properly urban settlement in the Titicaca basin. Its sphere of influence reached as far north as the Cuzco Valley and as far south as

Tiahuanaco Tiwanaku ( es, Tiahuanaco or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilo ...

. The culture had two phases of development within the

Formative Period Several chronologies in the archaeology of the Americas include a Formative Period or Formative stage etc. It is often sub-divided, for example into "Early", "Middle" and "Late" stages. The Formative is the third of five stages defined by Gord ...

: the Middle Formative (1400 to 550 BC), and Late Formative (550 BC to 400 AD). The Pukara engaged in agriculture, herding and fishing, domesticating the

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfu ...

and constructing ridges and furrows that allowed agriculture in floodable lands on the shores of Lake Titicaca, which ensured intensive high-altitude agriculture. During that time complex knowledge on

hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

and

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

was acquired, and it was from this that the inhabitants of the highlands began to directly control diverse ecological landscapes, establishing permanent colonies along the western slope of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in the inter-Andean valley of

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

and

Moquegua Moquegua (, founded by the Spanish colonists as Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua) is a city in southern Peru, located in the Department of Moquegua, of which it is the capital. It is also capital of Mariscal Nieto Pr ...

(a development strategy that was subsequently consolidated and promoted by the Tiahuanaco). They developed, especially in the second phase, a very particular vigorous sculpture and ceramic culture. Pukara ceramics are painted in various colours. They are finely made, and include many non-utilitarian forms, such as human and animal motifs. Pukara pottery and textiles are found widely in the middle Andean, and the coastal Pacific valleys, reaching out into Peru and Chile. The rise of

Tiwanaku Tiwanaku ( es, Tiahuanaco or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilo ...

may have contributed to the weakening of Pukara around 200 AD. The Pucará settlements were occupied by people from Tiwanaku, it is probable that the leaders of this social formation had taken the site of Pukara as a sacred place, and perhaps even assumed it as their ''paqarina'' or place of origin. They copied Pucará's architectural model and commissioned a vast number of workers and engineers to transfer it to their capital in the Tiwanaku Valley, in the southern basin. It is possible that at that time, the sculptures of Pukará had become objects of great religious and ritual value, their possession being a symbol of power and prestige. The name for the Pucará culture was derived from the word ''

'', referring to the fortresses and defense bastions constructed during the

Late Intermediate Period This is a chart of cultural periods of Peru and the Andean Region developed by John Rowe and Edward Lanning and used by some archaeologists studying the area. An alternative dating system was developed by Luis Lumbreras and provides different dat ...

References

{{reflist History of Peru Andean civilizations Indigenous culture of the Americas

See also

References