Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-02T22:13:05.917Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Possibilities and limitations of new radiocarbon dating for the Maucallacta site, dep. Arequipa, Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2025

Maciej Sobczyk ,
Andrzej Z Rakowski Open the ORCID record for Andrzej Z Rakowski [Opens in a new window] ,
Sylwia Siemianowska ,
Jan Kłaput ,
Jacek Pawlyta Open the ORCID record for Jacek Pawlyta [Opens in a new window] ,
Dominika Sieczkowska-Jacyna Open the ORCID record for Dominika Sieczkowska-Jacyna [Opens in a new window] ,
Claudio Olaya Cotera  and
Santiago Ancapichun
Maciej Sobczyk
Affiliation:
University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Andrzej Z Rakowski*
Affiliation:
Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Sylwia Siemianowska
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, PAS, Poland
Jan Kłaput
Affiliation:
University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Jacek Pawlyta
Affiliation:
AGH University of Kraków, Poland
Dominika Sieczkowska-Jacyna
Affiliation:
Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Claudio Olaya Cotera
Affiliation:
Independent researcher, Lima, Peru
Santiago Ancapichun
Affiliation:
Universidad Austral, Chile
*
Corresponding author: Andrzej Rakowski; Email: arakowski@polsl.pl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With the development of radiocarbon dating methods in the last decade, the Andean archaeological community has successfully leaned into the problem of the chronology of the expansion of the Inca State. While this chronology was based on ethnohistorical accounts (Rowe 1945), it has been possible to verify its foundations precisely in the last decade. The results from the Maucallacta region are part of these discussions and are intended to add new data from the Inca province of Kuntisuyu, which was neglected in this debate until now. The project encompasses archaeological investigations near the snow-covered volcano Coropuna, frequently mentioned by chroniclers of the 16th and 17th centuries as an oracle worshiped since pre-Inca times. This includes a large complex known as Maucallacta-Pampacolca, located approximately 170 km northwest of Arequipa in the southern highlands of Peru, within the District of Pampacolca, Province of Castilla, Department of Arequipa (LS; 3750 m asl). Due to its location, it holds a unique relationship with the Coropuna landscape. The site is a vast administrative center featuring over three hundred stone buildings, tombs, and ceremonial structures. Among them, the most important is the large ceremonial platform with ushnu and the dumps deposited beneath it. The analysis of ceramics and animal bones, combined with stratigraphic analysis and the results of new calibrations and interpretations of radiocarbon dates, provides a comprehensive picture of the formation and use of ceremonial dumps at the site, making them one of the most thoroughly examined collections in this regard.

Keywords

Bayesian chronologybonesInca cultureMaucallactaradiocarbon dating
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , First View , pp. 1 - 13
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2nd Latin American Radiocarbon Conference, Mexico City, 4–8 Sept. 2023

References

Albornoz, Cristobal De (1989) Instrucción para descubrir todas las guacas del Pirú con sus camayos y haziendas. In URBANO AND DUVIOLS 1989, 163–198 (written circa 1584).Google Scholar
Ancapichún, S, De Pol-Holz, R, Christie, DA, Santos, GM, Collado-Fabbri, S, Garreaud, R, Lambert, F, Orfanoz-Cheuquelaf, A, Rojas, M, Southon, J, Turnbull, JC and Creasman, P (2021) Radiocarbon bomb-peak signal in tree-rings from the tropical Andes register low latitude atmospheric dynamics in the Southern Hemisphere. Science of The Total Environment 774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ancapichún, S, Pawlyta, J, Rakowski, A and Sieczkowska, D (2022) Influence of air parcels from northern and southern hemispheres on radiocarbon-based inca chronology. Radiocarbon 64(6), 1431–1446. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2022.87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, T, Chávez Farfán, S, Alejo Ticona, M and Chávez, S (2019) Recientes excavaciones en Intinqala: Un sitio de ocupación inca en Copacabana, Bolivia. SIARB 33, 42–71.Google Scholar
Braziunas, T, Fung, I and Stuiver, M (1995) The preindustrial atmospheric 14CO2 latitudinal gradient as related to exchanges among atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial reservoirs. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 9, 565–584. https://doi.org/10.1029/95gb01725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C (2008) Deposition models for chronological records. Quaternary Science Reviews 27(1–2), 42–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C and Lee, S (2013). Recent and planned developments of the program OxCal, Radiocarbon 55(2), 720–730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buda, P, Sobczyk, M, Wołoszyn, J and Ziółkowski, M (2010) Maucallacta an Inca administrative and ceremonial center in Condesu-yos. Results of 2006 and 2007 field seasons. The Nature and Culture of Latin America. Review of Polish Studies. Kraków: W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Burger, R (2007) The archaeology of Inka power: Concluding thoughts. In Burger RL, Morris C, Matos Mendieta R et al. (eds), Variations in the Expression of Inka Power. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C.: Harvard University Press, 423–437.Google Scholar
Burger, RL, Salazar, LC, Nesbitt, J, Washburn, E and Fehren-Schmitz, L (2021) New AMS dates for Machu Picchu: Results and implications. Antiquity 95(383), 1265–1279. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2021.99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherkinsky, A, Culp, RA, Dvoracek, DK and Noakes, JE (2010) Status of the AMS Facility at the University of Georgia. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 268(7–8), 867–870.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cieza de León, P (2005[1553]). Crónica del Peru. El Seńorío de los Incas, Biblioteca Ayacucho. Selección, prólogo, notas, modernización del texto, cronología y bibliografía. Edited by Franklin Pease G.Y. Caracas, Venezuela: Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho, Caracas.Google Scholar
Cook, ND, Málaga, A and Bouysse Cassagne, T (1975) Tasa de la Visita General de Francisco de Toledo. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM).Google Scholar
Covey, RA (2006) Chronology, succession, and sovereignty: The politics of Inca historiography and its modern interpretation. Comparative Studies in Society and History 48(1), 169–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delgado Gonzalez, C (2013) Feasts and offerings in Arcopata, Cusco. Andean Past 11, 85–110.Google Scholar
Draxler, R and Taylor, D (1982) Horizontal dispersion parameters for long-range transport modelling, Journal of Applied Meterology 21(3), 367–372. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1982)021<0367:HDPFLR>2.0.CO;2.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala. 1615/1616. El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno. København, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 2232 4°.Google Scholar
Guaman Poma de Ayala, F (1980[1583–1615]) Nueva coronica y buen gobierno. Edited by Franklin Pease, GY. Caracas, Venezuela: Biblioteca Ayacucho.Google Scholar
Hogg, AG, Heaton, TJ, Hua, Q, Palmer, JG, Turney, CSM and Wacker, L (2020) SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–55,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 62(4), 759–778. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hua, Q, Turnbull, JC, Santos, GM, Rakowski, AZ, Ancapichún, S, De Pol-Holz, R, Hammer, S, Lehman, SJ, Levin, I, Miller, JB and Palmer, JG (2022) Atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1950–2019. Radiocarbon 64(4), 723–745. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2021.95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huels, M, van der Plicht, J, Brock, F, Matzerath, S and Chivall, D (2017) Laboratory intercomparison of Pleistocene bone radiocarbon dating protocols. Radiocarbon 59(5), 1543–1552. http://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2017.23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jull, AJT, Burr, GS, Beck, JW, Hodgins, GWL, Biddulph, DL, Gann, J, Hatheway, AL, Lange, TE and Lifton, NA (2006) Application of accelerator mass spectrometry to environmental and paleoclimate studies at the University of Arizona. Radioactivity in the Environment 8, 3–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalnay, E, Kanamitsu, M, Kistler, R, Collins, W, Deaven, D, Gandin, L et al. (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 77, 437–471. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077<0437:TNYRP>2.0.CO;2.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Key, R, Kozyr, A, Sabine, C, Lee, K, Wanninkhof, R, Bulliste, J, Feely, RA, Millero, FJ and Mordy, C (2004) A global ocean carbon climatology: results from global data analysis project (GLODAP), Global Biogeochemical Cycles 18(4), GB4031. doi: 10.1029/2004GB002247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kłaput, J (2021) Camelid consumption at the Inca ceremonial site Maucallacta–Pampacolca. Zooarchaeological analysis of the “Basural 2” deposit. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 31(2), 207–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krąpiec, M, Rakowski, AZ, Huels, M, Wiktorowski, D and Hamann, C (2018) A new graphitization system for radiocarbon dating with AMS in the dendrochronological laboratory at AGH-UST Kraków. Radiocarbon 60(4), 1091–1100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, S and Bronk Ramsey, C (2012). Development and application of the trapezoidal model for archaeological chronologies. Radiocarbon 54(1), 107–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, J, Giovannetti, MA and Páez, MC (2013) Ushnus of the Inca provincial region: An analysis of two ceremonial platforms from Inca sites in Catamarca (Argentina). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32, 97–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marciniak, K (2012) Analiza archeozoologiczna szczątków kostnych z inkaskiego centrum ceremonialno-administracyjnego Maucallacta 1. Unpublished MA thesis, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw.Google Scholar
Marsh, E, Bruno, M, Fritz, S, Baker, P, Capriles, J and Hastorf, C (2018) IntCal, SHCal, or a mixed curve? Choosing a 14C calibration curve for archaeological and paleoenvironmental records from tropical South America. Radiocarbon 60(3), 925–940. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2018.16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, EJ, Kidd, R, Ogburn, D and Durán, V (2017) Dating the expansion of the Inca empire: Bayesian models from Ecuador and Argentina. Radiocarbon 59(1), 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michczyński, A, Pazdur, A, Sobczyk, M, Wołoszyn, J and Ziółkowski, M (2007) The New Attempt to Construct Radiocarbon Chronology of Maucallacta, Peru. Poster. Gliwice.Google Scholar
Monteverde Sotil, LR (2011a) ¿Cómo era el ushnu de la plaza Haucaypata del Cuzco? Revista Haucaypata. Investigaciones arqueológicas del Tahuantinsuyo 1, 6–21.Google Scholar
Monteverde Sotil, LR (2011b) La configuración arquitectónica de los ushnus como espacios de libaciones y ofrendas líquidas durante el Tahuantinsuyo. Bulletin de l’Institut français d’études andines 40(1), 31–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, C, Covey, RA and Stein, P (2011) The Huánuco Pampa Archaeological Project Volume I: The Plaza and Palace Complex. American Museum of Natural History Anthropological Papers 96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogburn, DE (2012) Reconceiving the chronology of Inca Imperial expansion. Radiocarbon 54(2), 219–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Páez, MC and Lynch, J (2012) La cerámica del ushnu del sitio Hualfín Inka (Catamarca, Argentina). Análisis preliminar. Revista Espańola de Antropologia Americana 42(1), 243–250. revistas.ucm.es/index.php/REAA/article/viewFile/38646/37371.Google Scholar
Presbítero Rodríguez, G, Sobczyk, M and Wołoszyn, JZ (2000/2001) >Plataforma Ceremonial con Ushnu del sitio Maucallacta. In Ziółkowski MS and Belan Franco AL (eds), Proyecto Arqueológico Condesuyos I, Andes – Boletín de la Misión Arqueológica Andina 3, 185–199.Google Scholar
Reimer, Paula J, Austin, William E. N., Bard, Edouard, Bayliss, Alex, Blackwell, Paul G., Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Butzin, Martin, Cheng, Hai, Lawrence Edwards, R., Friedrich, Michael, Grootes, Pieter M., Guilderson, Thomas P., Hajdas, Irka, Heaton, Timothy J., Hogg, Alan G., Hughen, Konrad A., Kromer, Bernd, Manning, Sturt W., Muscheler, Raimund, Palmer, Jonathan G., Charlotte Pearson, Johannes van der Plicht, Reimer, Ron W., Richards, David A., Marian Scott, E., Southon, John R., Turney, Christian S. M., Lukas Wacker, Florian Adolphi, Ulf Büntgen, Manuela Capano, Fahrni, Simon M., Alexandra Fogtmann-Schulz, Ronny Friedrich, Peter Köhler, Sabrina Kudsk, Fusa Miyake, Jesper Olsen, Frederick Reinig, Minoru Sakamoto, Sookdeo, Adam and Talamo, Sahra (2020) The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62(4), 725–57. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2020.41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, K, Mikaloff-Fletcher, S, Bianchi, D, Beautien, C, Galbraith, E, Gnanadesikan, A, Hogg, A, Iudicone, D, Lintner, B, Naegler, T, Reimer, P, Sarmiento, J and Slatter, R (2011) Interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon reveals natural variability of Southern Ocean winds. Climate of the Past 7, 1123–1138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, JH (1945) Absolute chronology in the Andean area. American Antiquity 10(3), 265–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rozanski, K, Stichler, W, Gonfiantini, R, Scott, EM, Beukens, RP, Kromer, B and van der Plicht, J (1992) The IAEA 14C Intercomparison Exercise 1990. Radiocarbon 34(3), 506–519. doi: 10.1017/S0033822200063761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sieczkowska, D (2015) Studies about Pampacolcas’ baptism record book—Arequipa, Peru. Estudios Latinoamericanos 35, 161–176. https://doi.org/10.36447/Estudios2015.v35.art9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sieczkowska, D and Sobczyk, M (2018) Between ethnohistory and archaeology, the case of the Pampacolca region (Castilla, Arequipa). Proceedings I International Congress of Archeology of the Central South Andean Area in Arequipa, 266–274.Google Scholar
Siemianowska, S (2021) Pomiędzy ofiarą a biesiadą. Studia ceramiki ze śmietnisk ofiarny kompleksu administracyjno-ceremonialnego Maucallacta-Pampacolca, Peru. PhD thesis, typescript in the Archives of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Siemianowska, S and Sobczyk, M (2020) The Maucallacta-Pampacolca ceremonial centre and Apu Coropuna. Libation rites in the light of historical and archaeological sources—An introduction. In Kerneder-Gubała K and Kocańda P (eds), Archeologia gór in Memoriam profesor Andrzej Żaki. Nowy Targ, 223–242.Google Scholar
Sobczyk, M (2016) Apu Coropuna: estructura y funcionamiento del oráculo Inca segύn las fuentes arqueológicas e históricas. ISBN 978-612-5031-85-3.Google Scholar
Sobczyk, M (2022) Apu Coropuna. Entornos arqueológicos en un oráculo andino: Maucallacta. Arqueologia. ISBN 978-612-50-3185-3.Google Scholar
Stehberg, R (2016) Plataforma ceremonial ushnu inca de Chena, valle del Maipo, Chile. Chungara, Revista de Antropología Chilena 48(4), 557–588.Google Scholar
Stein, A, Draxler, R, Rolph, G, Stunder, B, Cohen, M and Ngan, F (2015) NOAA’s HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling system. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 96, 2059–2077. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00110.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M and Polach, HA (1977) Discussion: Reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19, 355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, A, Marotzke, J, Cummins, P and Sarachik, E (1993) Stability and variability of the thermohaline circulation. Journal of Physical Oceanography 23(1), 39–60. doi: 10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<0039:savott>2.0.co.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiktorowski, D, Krapiec, M, Rakowski, A and Pawlyta, J (2020) Status of the AMS graphitization system in the dendrochronological laboratory at AGH-UST, Kraków. Geochronometria 47, 112-117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wołoszyn, J, Sobczyk, M, Presbítero Rodríguez, G and Buda, P (2010) Espacios ceremoniales del sitio inca de Maucallacta (Departamento de Arequipa, Perú). Diálogo Andino 35, 13–23.Google Scholar
Ziółkowski, M, Bastante Abuhadba, J, Hogg, A, Sieczkowska, D, Rakowski, A, Pawlyta, J, Manning, S (2021) When did the Incas build Machu Picchu and its satellite sites? New approaches based on radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 63(4), 1133–1148. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2020.79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuidema, T (1982) Myth and history in ancient Peru. In Rossi, I (ed), The Logic of Culture. South Hadley (MA): Bergin and Garvey, 150–175.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Sobczyk et al. supplementary material

Sobczyk et al. supplementary material
Download Sobczyk et al. supplementary material(File)
File 1.8 MB