Two pucaras, one community and a territory: local trajectories and duality in precordillera settlements of Tarapacá, Atacama Desert, Late Intermediate and Late Periods (AD 1250–1450)

The phenomenon of pucaras has been studied from different perspectives in the South-Central Andes. These settlements, developed during the Late Intermediate Period, have mainly been explained as a consequence of the disintegration of Tiwanaku, linked to factors such as conflict and widespread warfare, as well as to climate change, particularly the control of water sources during periods of drought, often overlooking the social dynamics, tensions, and agreements of local communities. In the precordillera of the Atacama Desert, around AD 1200, a high-altitude architectural system emerged, aligning with this “pucara horizon” and associated with extensive agricultural and hydraulic infrastructure. These transformations created novel landscapes for habitation and cultivation in the steep Andean ravines, enabling new forms of social life and productive practices. Moving beyond classical perspectives, this study seeks to offer new insights into the Late Intermediate Period through the case of northern Chile, focusing on two pucaras and their associated productive spaces in the Mocha locality of the Tarapacá precordillera. Based on various lines of evidence, such as ceramic, zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical, stable isotope and stone tool analyses, along with spatial analysis of settlements and agricultural infrastructure, we describe the forms, strategies, and dynamics involved in the creation of this shared social and productive Andean landscape. Without disregarding the influence of climate change and conflict, both pucaras can be understood as dual social strategies for constructing the community's landscape and territory, evoking its internal cycles over time as well as its responses to external entities and the Inca expansion.