The Pucará de Tilcara is a pre-

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

fortification or ''

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 ...

'' located on a hill just outside (approximately a 15-minute walk) the small town of

Tilcara San Francisco de Tilcara (usually referred to as Tilcara) is a city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina, and the head town of the Tilcara Department. It had 6,249 inhabitants at the . Traces of human habitation in the area date back more than 10,0 ...

, in the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

province of Jujuy. The location was strategically chosen to be easily defensible and to provide good views over a long stretch of the

Quebrada de Humahuaca The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a narrow mountain valley located in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, north of Buenos Aires (). It is about long, oriented north–south, bordered by the Altiplano in the west and north, by the Sub-Andea ...

. The Pucará de Tilcara was declared a National Monument in 2000. It has been partially rebuilt, and is the only publicly accessible archaeological site in the Quebrada de Humahuaca.

History

Traces of human habitation in the area date back more than 10,000 years. The fortified town was originally built by the Omaguaca tribe,the name "Omaguaca" is derived from the Quechua language and may mean "place of people clothed in leather" who settled in the area around the 12th century. Experts in agriculture, weaving and pottery, they were also renowned warriors. During their time, the pucará served as an important administrative and military center. At its peak, the pucará covered up to about and housed over 2,000 inhabitants, living in small square stone buildings with low doorways and no windows. Besides living quarters, the pucará contained corrals for animals, sites to perform religious ceremonies and burial sites. In the late 15th century, the tribes of the Quebrada were finally conquered by the

Incas The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

under

Tupac Inca Yupanqui Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui (), also Topa Inga Yupangui, erroneously translated as "noble Inca accountant" (before 14711493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–1493) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pach ...

, who used the pucará as a military outpost and to secure the supply of metals such as silver, zinc, and copper which were mined nearby. The Incan domination of the area only lasted for about half a century, and ended with the arrival of the Spanish in 1536, who founded the modern town of Tilcara in 1586.

Recent history

Rediscovery

In 1908, the

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

Juan Bautista Ambrosetti of the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

and his student Salvador Debenedetti rediscovered the site and catalogued over 3,000 artifacts during their first three years of digging. Starting in 1911 they began to clear about and rebuild some of the structures. In 1948 Eduardo Casanova took over and oversaw the opening of the site as an archaeological museum in 1966. Excavation and rebuilding efforts are still governed by the University of Buenos Aires.

Museum

The museum contains ten rooms, three of which are for temporary exhibitions, a library and administrative offices. The seven permanent rooms display over 5,000 valuable historical pieces from various Indian cultures. Among the most valuable is a mummified body discovered fully clothed in an excellent state of preservation in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

. However, this is no longer being exhibited. *Room 1 is for Argentina and the neighboring countries of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, and includes inter alia the mummified body from

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcan ...

(no longer exhibited). *Room 2 deals with the Indian culture of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and displays ceramics of the

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...

, Mochica and

Chimú Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor or Chimú Empire) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture (). The culture arose about 900 CE, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fi ...

Indians. *Room 3 displays items from the time of the

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

. *Rooms 4 and 5 display items from Puna and

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

, including an important reconstruction of a burial ground of the

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

Indians. *Room 6 displays pieces from the ancient fortification of Pucará de Tilcara itself. *Room 7 displays further pieces from the Quebrada de Humahuaca.

Botanical garden

A small botanical garden with

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

species native to the area, located next to the pucará, is also worth visiting. There is a commemorative plaque displaced that reads "The text on this plaque reflects the conception dominant for much of the 20th century in Argentina, that the majority of indigenous peoples had disappeared with the Spanish conquest and colonization. This led to the idea that archeology should 'salvage' the ashes of a 'dead' culture. The voices and struggles of indigenous groups have shown those ideas to be false. Thus, Article 75, Clause 17 of the 1994 reformed National Constitution recognizes the 'cultural and ethnic pre-existence of Argentinian indigenous peoples.' Today, archeology offers another tool to nourish the memory of these peoples".

Notes

External links

Jujuy website: Pucará de Tilcara

Deia.com: article on Tilcara and the pucará

References

* Belli, E., Zaburlín, M., and Seldes, V., 2004: ''Museo Arqueológico y Museo del "Pucará de Tilcara"'', in the section ''Dossier: Museos de la UBA'' (A. Ascárate, P. De Titto and R. Martínez Mendoza), in ''UBA: Encrucijadas'', No. 26, June 2004. Universidad de Buenos Aires * Casanova, Eduardo, 1978: ''El Pucará de Tilcara''. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Fac. de Filosofía y Letras, Instituto Interdisciplinario Tilcara {{DEFAULTSORT:Pucara de Tilcara Forts in Argentina Archaeological sites in Argentina National Historic Monuments of Argentina Former populated places in Argentina Buildings and structures in Jujuy Province Museums in Jujuy Province Archaeological museums in Argentina Tourist attractions in Jujuy Province