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The making of an imperial agricultural landscape in the Valley of Belén

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2019

Thibault Saintenoy Open the ORCID record for Thibault Saintenoy [Opens in a new window] ,
Antonio César González-García Open the ORCID record for Antonio César González-García [Opens in a new window]  and
Marta Crespo Fernandez
Thibault Saintenoy*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avenida de Vigo s/n, 15705, Santiago de Compostela, Chile
Antonio César González-García
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avenida de Vigo s/n, 15705, Santiago de Compostela, Chile
Marta Crespo Fernandez
Affiliation:
Independent researcher
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

As the Inca Empire was predominantly agrarian, the integration of local farming communities into a corporate agricultural system constituted a great challenge for the imperial political economy. The authors thus analyse an unusual circular structure in the Altos de Arica region of northern Chile, which resembles an important building—called ‘sunturhuasi’—in the capital, Cusco. They explore this structure using three-dimensional modelling, identifying its probable use in astronomical observations and hence its clear connection with the Inca agricultural calendar, ultimately suggesting that it was central to an imperial built environment related to the political economy of maize production.

Keywords

AndesIncaarchaeoastronomyagricultureimperialismtimekeeping
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 372 , December 2019 , pp. 1607 - 1624
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019

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