Ocupación Inka en la región Kallawaya: Oralidad, etnohistoria y arqueología de Camata, Bolivia

Abstract

A case study of the Inka occupation in the peripheral region of Tawantinsuyu, ethnohistorically known as the Kallawaya Chiefdom, is presented. Specifically, it focuses on the description of the characteristics of the settlement of Maukallajta, near Camata, as well as on other smaller sites, located at the eastern margin of the Kallawaya region (yungas forests). Possible hypotheses are presented using different lines of evidence (ethnohistorical sources, oral tradition, and architectural and artifact analyses), to explain the multiple reasons that motivated this occupation. We conclude that the relevant physical infrastructure built by the Inkas in this region was motivated by a territorialistic imperial political economic strategy that emphasized the extraction of important resources (gold, coca, and others) found in this frontier with the lowlands. The Inka occupation came hand in hand with a strong hegemonic ideological domination.