The Pucará de Turi an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

in the locality of Turi, which is part of Calama, in the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It is located 47 km northeast of the town of

San Francisco de Chiu Chiu San Francisco de Chiu Chiu, or simply Chiu Chiu, is a village located about northeast of the city of Calama, in El Loa Province of Chile's northern Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's ...

. It is listed as a

National Monument of Chile The National Monuments of Chile (Spanish: ''Monumentos Nacionales de Chile''), also abbreviated MN, are the constructions, elements and places that form part of the country's cultural heritage, and they are protected by law. They are National Heri ...

since 1983.

History

This

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 nor ...

—

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 ...

word meaning ''fortress'' or ''fortified hill''— is a

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

stone construction located in the area of Turi. The fortified hamlet is located at an elevation of 3,100 m above sea level and occupies a surface area of approximately 4 ha. It is the largest architectural complex built by the

Atacama people The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia, mainly Antofagasta Region. According to the Argentinean Census in 2010, 13,9 ...

. The construction dates back to ca. 1250; while in the early

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

, the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

Topa Inca Yupanqui Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui ( qu, 'Tupaq Inka Yupanki'), translated as "noble Inca accountant," (c. 1441–c. 1493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–93) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pachacuti, and h ...

conquered the territory of the Atacama people, and approximately AD 1470, the citadel-like structure underwent a series of alterations by the addition of Incan structures, including a Kallanka, a long building covered with a gable roof. The area included houses with rectangular plan measuring 4 m by 5 m. The complex features about 620 enclosed areas of various sizes and shapes.

References

{{coord, -22.23417, -68.27694, format=dms, type:landmark_region:CL, display=title Pre-Columbian fortifications in Chile