OMAGUACA SOCIETY AND IDENTITY: REFLECTIONS FROM ETNOHISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY CONCERNING THE COLLASUYO ANEXATION (JUJUY, ARGENTINA)

Abstract

This paper synthesizes approaches concerning identities and experiences of alterity lived by the indigenous communities settled in the central area of Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy, Argentina) before (900 - 1400 AD) and after the arrival of the Inca expansion (1400 - 1536 AD). Departing from the bibliographical analysis of works that dealt with primary written sources, archaeological evidence hailing from four sites in the region will be considered. Available historic information focuses on the cases of Tilcara and Purmamarca; yet, the sum of ethnohistoric and archaeological sources established local communities reacted differently to the change process. Finally, this paper reflects and discusses the idiosyncrasies of the societies that inhabited the Quebrada de Humahuaca, the contributions of pottery and other material remains.