干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

A micro spatial analysis is proposed to evaluate the circulation of resources between endorheic valleys settlements and coastal desert enclaves, through the caravan intermodal traffic in the Atacama Desert during the Late Inter- mediate Period. Within a harmonious social context, road circulation associated with geo-symbolic rites characterized these "island" settlements. While occupying permanent home bases, these groups also practiced long- term halts along these roads. The Pica-Tarapaca Complex’s territoriality incorporated productive nodes in the Pacific through circuits associated with domestic sites and inter settlements rituals. We describe mobility indicators: materialities, camps, diets, funerary contexts, and rock art rites. These indicators establish connections between the oasis cemeteries of Pica, the intermediary camps of Pintados, Soronal and the coastal cemeteries of Patillos and Bajo Molle. We conclude that a segment of the Pica oasis population intensified their use of interfluvial sterile passages, where they occupied temporary halts in coexistence with local communities, and transported terrestrial and maritime food surplus. The complexity of these operations suggests the presence of a local socio-political leadership, which was later controlled and expanded during the Inca regime.