Cerro San Antonio (L1): A Palimpsest of the South-Central Andean Past (ca. 1500 BC - AD 1950) in the Middle Locumba Valley, Tacna, Peru

Abstract

The site of Cerro San Antonio sprawls over 160 hectares of rocky hills and windswept blufftops that overlook the final confluence of the Locumba drainage before the river continues on to empty in the Pacific, just 35 kilometers away. The site is a true palimpsest of the local past, comprising 28 archaeological sectors that show evidence of occupation and use beginning in the Formative period (ca. 1500 BC - AD 500), continuing through the historical colonial-republican periods (ca. AD 1550-1950) and on into today, with the most significant occupations dating to the Middle Horizon (ca. AD 500-1150) and Late Intermediate Period (ca. AD 1150-1450). This article delineates these occupations in order to understand changes and continuities in the use of this landform over millennia, and ultimately, brings attention to one of Tacna’s most important archaeological sites.

Keywords

• Locumba drainage
• settlement patterns
• longue durée
• Valles Occidentales