Pucará de Tilcara

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pukará de Tilcara
The ruins of the Pukará de Tilcara

The ruins of the Pukará de Tilcara

Creation time : 1100
Castle type : Wehrdorf
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Tilcara
Geographical location 23 ° 35 ′ 19 ″  S , 65 ° 24 ′ 10 ″  W Coordinates: 23 ° 35 ′ 19 ″  S , 65 ° 24 ′ 10 ″  W
Height: 2450  m

The Pucará de Tilcara is one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Argentina, created from the site of an old Indian defensive village of the Tilcara Indians. It is at an extremely good strategic point above the Quebrada de Humahuaca gorge, where the Inca Road intersects. It is located at an altitude of 2450  m , one kilometer south of the city of Tilcara on a hill 80 m above the Río Grande in the Jujuy province .

Before the colonization of the Spaniards, it was one of the most important and famous places of the Quebrada de Humahuaca with an area of ​​8 to 15 hectares and an age of about 900 years. In addition to various residential complexes, there were enclosures for animals, a cemetery and a place for various sacred ceremonies.

Discovery and Reconstruction

Pucará de Tilcara 01.JPG

It was discovered in 1908 by the ethnographer Juan Bautista Ambrosetti and his student Salvador Debenedetti. In three summers they brought more than 3,000 finds to light. These provided information on the living conditions of the indigenous people before the Spanish settlement.

After 1911, Debenedetti's idea was to reconstruct the ruins. With the permission of Ambrosetti (at that time director of the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Buenos Aires ) 2,000 m² of the site were cleared and the walls reconstructed up to a meter above the ground.

In 1929, after Ambrosetti's death, Debenedetti became director of the museum and wanted to complete the restoration. He carried out another exploration of the place, this time with his student Eduardo Casanova. With his death the following year, the project was cut.

In 1948 Casanova took up the project again and finished the reconstruction with the help of the University of Buenos Aires. The government of the Jujuy Province donated the land on the condition that an archaeological museum be built. This requirement was met in 1966 with the opening of the first part. Two years later the project was completed. A botanical garden was built next to the museum.

Pucará de Tilcara Museum

The museum now consists of 10 halls, 3 of which are for temporary exhibitions, a library and the administrative area. The 7 permanent halls show more than 5000 valuable historical pieces from different Indian cultures. One of the most valuable is a mummified body that was found in very good condition with full clothing in the Atacama Desert.

  • Room 1 is dedicated to Argentina and the neighboring countries Chile and Bolivia. Among other things, the mummified body from San Pedro de Atacama is exhibited there.
  • Room 2 deals with the Indian culture in Peru. Pottery from the Nazca, Mochica and Chimú Indians is on display.
  • Room 3 shows pieces from before the arrival of the Spaniards in South America.
  • Halls 4 and 5 show pieces from the Puna and Jujuy. An important sight is the reconstruction of a cemetery of the Aymara Indians.
  • Room 6 shows pieces from Pucará / Tilcara.
  • Room 7 shows other pieces from the Quebrada de Humahuaca.

Web links