Pucará de Cerro La Muralla (Pucara of Wall's Hill) is an

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 ...

Pucara 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 ...

(fortress) in

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 on a strategic mountain top, five km to the south of

San Vicente de Tagua Tagua San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, or just San Vicente, is a Chilean commune and city in Cachapoal Province, O'Higgins Region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San Vicente spans an area of and had 40,25 ...

, near the dry lagoon ( Laguna de Tagua Tagua). This is believed to be the southernmost fort of the

Inca Empire 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 ...

History

The Inca invasion, having advanced beyond the

Choapa river Choapa River or El Río Choapa is a river of Chile located in the Coquimbo Region. The river rises in the Andes, at the confluence of the streams ''Totoral'', ''Leiva'' and ''Del Valle''. The river then flows through the town of Salamanca before ...

, came to

Picunche The Picunche (a Mapudungun word meaning "North People"), also referred to as ''picones'' by the Spanish, were a Mapudungun-speaking people living to the north of the Mapuches or Araucanians (a name given to those Mapuche living between the Itata an ...

territory. They established in the zone several storage facilities and the fortress of Cerro La Muralla. Located on the strategic top of the hill, the fortress is near the lagoon that is now dry. It is located between the

Cachapoal River Cachapoal River is tributary river of the Rapel River in Chile located in the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. The river gives its name to the Cachapoal Province. Cachapoal Valley The valley takes its name from the Cachapoal River th ...

and

Tinguiririca River Tinguiririca River is a river of Chile located in the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. It rises in the Andes, at the confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join ...

. It is presumed that the fort was used as point of observation, since from here, the north valley can be controlled. The lagoon was also useful for defence.

Structure

In the top of the Hill, the walls tracing an eagle in flight like another Inca structures. It has three defensive walls and two sectors with housings.Map
/ref> Abundant ceramics and stone cups have been found. To 100 m of the first wall they realized works of recognition in the strength, that alone them esplanade, that apparently served as field of cultures. Evidence is that this construction was effected by the Incas, due to the work of the stone in blocks, the dimension of the enclosures and the structural terrace shapes of some sectors. Integral forms a part with Laguna de Tagua Tagua, since it does not have south wall, which was covered by the lagoon.

Investigations

Claudio Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (March 18, 1800 – November 29, 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geo ...

described his ascent to Cerro La Muralla, which then was called an Inca fortress. In 1974, scientists of the

Chilean National Museum of Natural History The Chilean National Museum of Natural History ( es, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, links=no or ) is one of three national museums in Chile, along with the Museum of Fine Arts and the National History Museum. It is located in Quinta Normal ...

, decided that this Indian fortress was constructed before the arrival of the Spanish to this place.

Current importance

Nearby is an image of the Virgin of Fátima, since habitual age in the Spanish Conquest. Any suspicious site of adoration to other deities was covered with icons of Catholic adoration. In this sector every year on the second Sunday of September celebrates a mass, to which he represents a parishioners' great quantity. This hurts the archaeological site.

Projects

At San Vicente of Tagua Tagua there is a project to have a museum and to recover the pieces extracted from the zone and that were extracted from the place by investigators. In addition one tries to create museums in situ, and to medium term, a controlled route to the pucará of The Wall.

Bibliography

* Rubén Stehberg, Fortaleza La Muralla,

External links

Pucará de Cerro la MurallaFoto de Pukara en Panoramio

Video Pucará Cerro la Muralla

References

{{coord, 34, 28, 29.51, S, 71, 8, 22.43, W, display=title Archaeological sites in Chile Pre-Columbian fortifications in Chile Megalithic monuments Buildings and structures in O'Higgins Region