Pukará de Quitor (also spelled Pucará de Quitor) (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

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 ...

'' fortress) 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 ...

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 northern

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 ...

. This stone fortress is located 3 km northwest of the town of

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 volcano. ...

, overlooking the valley of the river San Pedro. It was designated a national monument in 1982.

References

Pukará de Quitor
Buildings and structures in Antofagasta Region Tourist attractions in Antofagasta Region National Monuments of Chile Pre-Columbian fortifications in Chile {{Chile-struct-stub