Collection Related to the Omaguaca Indians from the Pucara de Tilcara Fortress, Northwestern Argentina, at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography RAS, St. Petersburg: Tentative Findings

Abstract

This study describes artifacts and human remains from the Pucara de Tilcara fortress, in the Province of Jujuy, Argentina, acquired by MAE RAN from the Ethnographic Museum in Buenos Aires in 1910 under the Russian-Argentinian exchange project. Unearthed in 1908-1910, many cultural and skeletal finds were shipped to American, European, and Asian museums. Later, scholars were unable to study the site in detail. The re-examination of those materials is all the more important because the habitation layers were destroyed in 1935 during the construction of the monument to the Pucara de Tilcara’s discoverers. The study of isolated parts of the collection and their typological analysis make it possible to narrow the date of the site and to assess certain aspects of technology. We examined archival sources owned by MAE RAN, SPbF ARAN, and the Juan B. Ambrosetti Ethnographic Museum. The comparative typological approach was used as well. In this article, we provide the first results of the attribution of artifacts, their typological classification, and a brief description of cranial finds. An important part of the study is the reconstruction of the occupations and knowledge system of those who lived at Pucara de Tilcara.