In the Central Region, South of Santiago, Chile lies the remnants and ruins of fortresses that are spread throughout mountainous valleys. They were the last efforts of the Inca to stretch their control further down across the continent.The structures that are most known in Chile and also equally obscure are Pukara al sur de Melipilla, Pukara de la Muralla, and Pukara la Compania, however there are at least 17 documented Inca pukaras within Chile. “Pukara” is a word from the Quechua language that means “fortress”. In Ecuador pukaras are more abundant, in fact there are 136 in the country of Ecuador and an average of 8 in other countries going south that were occupied by the Inca. Likely these areas in Ecuador met the most conflicts from neighboring groups and were a necessity to contain any threats.
Aymara and Quechua root words have been traced all the way to the mythological island of Chiloe, Chile. That’s pretty impressive. The Inca were just everywhere and their presence had to be known. Having a dominant language, while bringing funeral processions from newly conquered areas, to already established Inca cities, manipulated and corralled indigenous groups right into the hands of the Inca.
If you truly fancy Andeanology then you must check out the YouTube page “Altacumbre“. There you can find hidden gems related to the Inca all throughout the continent. They have some very interesting footage on very obscure sites relating to the Inca presence in Chile. If you are too lazy to leave this site,I have a few of their videos below.
Now, let’s discuss the last effort by the Inca to establish control over the indigenous groups around the Valparaíso region in Chile.Their ambition was impressive as they sometimes would gently slide into control over groups like the Diaguitas. Some groups resisted the authority and would migrate south, spreading stories of Inca taxes and hydraulic societies governed by elite land hungry politicians and kings.Others conformed to the Mitma System, which forced them into slave labor or some sort of indentured servant. This likely lead to the fortifications built and maintained by groups like the Diaguita. Resistance by the Mapuche and obviously the arrival of the Spanish put a halt to any further expansion of The Inca Empire going South. The Mapuche were the fierce resistors to the Inca and even more violent with the Spanish.
Mapuche pottery shards found in Valdivia are heavily influenced by Inca,militarily the Mapuche and the Inca were similar in terms of armor and fighting formations. Who influenced who? It was likely the Mapuche who were influenced by the Inca and the Spanishas well, as Iron was introduced to them, which led to a game changer. Iron, coupled with intelligent military practices along with a knowledge of the local lands ultimately gave the Mapuche the upper hand.It worked, as they are still a force to be reckoned with for the Chilean government.
The integrity of Inca architecture, their dominant control and superb public administration characteristics did have advantages over enemies like the Mapuche and make it all too difficult to imagine that all of this happened in a span of less than 200 years;however the Inca couldn’t ever get past the Maule River.The Southern most pukara, and likely at least one of the last, was Pukara Del Cerro La Muralla but was it the last? In my opinion the Inca, and in this case likely Diaguitas and the Promaucae under Mitma would have retreated to the valleys and perhaps joined other garrisons to the north. The Inca would have probably tried several times to expand further south,where the Mapuche drew a line just north of the Maule River near Talca. I’m not an expert on anything and surely not one on Inca and Mapuche conflicts. Eduardo Augustin Cruz who wrote:
Kingdom Of Chile , and can give you a better explanation.Most of this book takes place after the demise of the Inca but it is a fantastic read.
Some of these sites can become confusing without careful examination of the strata as initially they appear much like makeshift corrals that are still used by farmers in rural areas today. I have stumbled on a few of these structures myself, here’s one below.Same look, same technique but farmer Paco built it last Spring near Quillota, which by coincidence is also the ancient capital of Qullasuyu. Expect more things to be revealed in this area as there are many artifacts patiently waiting to be uncovered in the countless valleys of the Andes.
Some of the verified pukaras seem to look less like a fortification and more like a stumpy watch tower. The hills they are usually built on gave them a great view and were strategically placed, just like Machu Picchu. except they are pretty crude and rudimentary.
Pukara De La Compania, Chile
I think as technology only continues to get better, more and more evidence will pile up, in the same way with what is happening with pre-Clovis sites popping up everywhere in the Americas. As petroglyphs ,cupules ; pottery shards, llama fetuses; textiles,sacrificed children; and Jesuit memoirs continue turn up along with whatever other artifacts are plowed up from a Chilean vineyard; more attention must be placed in the valleys and cloud forests,to connect more dots about these highly advanced ancient civilizations.The integrity of Inca architecture, their dominant control and superb administration make it hard to imagine that all of this took place in a span of less than 200 years.
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