Location: Province of Florida, Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia
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History of the Samaipata Area Located in the eastern foothills of the Bolivian Andes, this rich archaeological area consists of a large sandstone outcrop measuring approximately 1.68 hectares (4.15 acres), as well as the remains of Inca administrative and residential structures and later Spanish structures. The area was first occupied and used as a ritual and residential center by the Mojocoyas culture as early as AD 300. It is very likely that the first engravings at El Fuerte were undertaken during the Mojocoyas period (AD 200 – 800). The area later served ceremonial purposes for the Inca in the 1300s and represents the easternmost limit of the Inca Empire. With its public administration buildings and central plaza, in addition to terracing of the surrounding hillsides for agriculture, the area would have also served as an Inca outpost against Chiriguano groups of the Bolivian Chaco. By the mid 1500s, the Spanish colonists had taken over the location, as it was an important staging area for supplying the mines at Potosi and transporting the extracted silver through the region. After the destruction of the Inca temples, the Spanish built a patio house at the ruins as a fortification against the Chiriguano, with the name "El Fuerte" likely stemming from this period of the area’s history. The area was soon abandoned by the Spanish, with the establishment of the town of Samaipata some 6km (3.7 miles) to the west. Comprehensive descriptions of El Fuerte have been given by the Spanish priest Diego de Alcaya in the early 1800s as well as the French explorer Alcide D'Orbigny in 1832. The most notable features are the complex array of interconnecting basins, channels, and other carvings that nearly cover the exposed rock surface. Particularly striking are two parallel channels flanked by engraved rhomboid bands that cross the western side of the outcrop, known locally as El Dorso de la Serpiente (The Snake’s Back). At the summit of the outcrop is situated the so called Coro de los Sacerdotes (Choir of the Priests), a large carved circle 7 meters (23 feet) in diameter with alternating triangular and square niches carved into its circumference. On the northern and southern margins of the outcrop are several Inca hornacinas, large rectangular niches carved into the rock face that served as temple areas. Other features cut into or constructed on the outcrop include the remains of two Inca houses similar to others known from Machu Picchu, as well as several feline motifs. El Fuerte de Samaipata was declared a Bolivian National Monument in 1951, and was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites after review by ICOMOS in 1998. Bibliography Avilés, Sonia Meyers, Albert 1998 Las Campañas Arqueológicas en Samaipata, 1994-96. Segundo Informe de Trabajo. Boletín SIARB (Sociedad de Investigación del Arte Rupestre de Bolivia) 12: 59-86. 1999 Reflexiones acerca de la periodización de la cultura Inka: Perspectivas desde Samaipata, Oriente de Bolivia, in: Actas del XII Congreso Nacional de Arqueología Argentina, ed. por Cristina Diez M., Tomo I: 239-251. 2000a El cerro esculpido de Samaipata. In Santa Cruz, Tiempo y Espacio, edited by Alcides Parejas M., pgs 127-134. Edicion CRE Ltda, Santa Cruz. 2000b Samaipata, roche sacrée des Incas. Archéologia, no. 372 : 51-57. 2007 Towards a re-conceptualization of the Late Horizon and the Inka Periods: Perspectives from Cochasquí, Ecuador, and Samaipata, Bolivia. In Variations in the Expression of Inka Power, edited by Richard Burger, Craig Morris and Ramiro Matos. Dumbarton Oaks Publications, Washington. Meyers, Albert and Cornelius Ulbert Ponce Sanginés, Carlos Rivera Sundt, Oswaldo Trimborn, Hermann |
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