Valle Calchaqui was the setting for the expansion of the Tiahuanaco Culture (650 to 850 AD), described in the Inka Trail. Due to its geographical location, it constitutes a privileged natural route for access and interregional communication in Northwest Argentina. An excellent route of circulation and economic, political, cultural, symbolic and demographic influences that facilitate the contracts of the societies of the Puna, the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, the Valley of Santa Maria and Hualfin, the Quebradas del Toro and Humahuaca, the Lerma Valley and the Western Jungles.

 

This stage is characterized by a moment of great demographic growth accompanied by the emergence of societies that had a high level of social complexity. Possibly the political organization was based on regional chiefdoms (political organization in non-industrial societies), which integrated the large territories of the most important valleys, accompanied by a form of settlement called Pukara, social centers built on top of the hills and places of good visibility and of difficult access, as a defense and control strategy.

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The tenth Inka, Tupa Inka Yupanki, was responsible for the annexation of Northwest Argentina to Tawantinsuyu (Imperio Inka, which in the Quechua language means "the four parts together", Cuzco being the administrative and political center. The territory became known as Kollasuyu. In this During this period, the Qapaq Ñan road underwent expansion, allowing rapid mobility of information, trade and human resources.

 

Source: Salta Museum of Anthropology

 

Purmamarca in the Quechua language means "City of the Virgin Land", in the past it was an ancient stop of the Inka Trail. Today it is considered a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

 

Purmamarca is the access route to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, via Ruta 52, which can be taken by bus crossing the Puna, at more than 3,000 meters above sea level, passing by Salinas Grandes, Reserva_cc781905- 5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ Nacional Los Flamencos, crossing the border at Passo de Jama, through the Andes.