Inka Rule in the Northern Calchaquí Valley, Argentina

Abstract

AbstractAbstractInka rule in the northern Calchaquí Valley in NW Argentina employed a varied strategy that drew the region's societies into the empire in the 15th century A.C. Surface survey, site mapping, and excavation, combined with review of historical documents, show that the Inkas applied measures designed to ensure security, intensify production of agropastoral and mineral resources, introduce state ideology, administer state activities, and establish cultural relations with compliant subjects. Because the Inkas tailored their approaches to the sociopolitical and natural circumstances of each region, imperial rule resulted in two different kinds of occupations: a discrete set of state installations in the north and a mixed, state-local occupation in the mid-valley.