The Inca Empire was one of the greatest empires in the Americas and spanned from the South of Colombia to Northeast of Argentina through territorial expansion during 1438-1536. The Inca Empire, which was referred to as “Tawantinsuyu”, was divided to four administrative regions: Chinchaysuyo, Antisuyo, Contisuyo and Collasuyo with Cusco as the Incan capital. Northeastern part of Argentina fell under the Collasuyo administrative region. During 1480s, the Inca Empire expanded its territory at the largest scale, which reached Uspallata, Mendoza Province, Argentina. Through their expansion, more Andean ethnic groups were integrated to the great Inca Empire. One Incan major city El Shincal, the Province of Catamarca was regarded as the “new Cusco” in the later stage of the Inca Empire because it was the provincial capital of the Collasuyo. El Shincal showed an early advanced civilization in the Americas before the Spanish conquest.
El Shincal was covered by vegetation for centuries before it was rediscovered in the 20th Century. El Shincal was developed approximately between 1470 and 1536 as the political, administrative, social, agricultural and religious center. They built El Shincal based on the position of the sun while considering the summer and winter solstices. Many ancient architectures such as dairy farms, houses, temples, factories for textiles and mineral resources, warehouses and plazas were well preserved in this site, which has given archeologists an opportunity to study about the Incan civilization as a primary source. From the organization of El Shincal, the center of the city was the main plaza, where they hosted religious activities and political gatherings. The climate in the Andes region is very harsh, but the Incans had managed to create a miracle. During the days, the temperature could be very hot. However, the nights are extremely cold. To develop their agricultural system, they built walls from rocks up on the hills so that the crops such as chili, pumpkins, corn and beans could gain enough humidity and sunlight. Besides their agricultural miracle, their infrastructure projects were very successful. The Inca Empire used rocks and adobe to build roads with the total distance of 125,000 km spanning from Cusco all the way to El Shincal. The Incan roads until now are still well preserved, and more than 2500 km of them were built in Argentina.
El Shincal as one of the well-preserved Incan cities is still under investigation amongst the archeologists, which showed the large scale of expansion and advancement in early human history. This city is another great primary source for scholars to study about the Incan civilization besides Machu Pichu and Cusco in Peru. There are other Incan ruins such as bridges and roads in the Province of Mendoza. Nowadays, these Incan heritage sites are visited by tourists who are interested in pre-Columbian culture. At the same time, the archeologists are still excavating more primary resources on site to learn more about the Inca Empire. From El Shincal, we could see that the Inca empire was a miracle in the Andes, as they adapted to the harsh climate and terrain. At the same time, their architectures showed early advancements in the 15th Century.
References:
“Archivo de la etiqueta: Aukipata.” El Viajero Etusiasta, WordPress. May 19, 2015. https://elviajeroentusiasta.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/zoom-argentina-el-shincal-de-quimivil-entre-londres-y-belen/
Sandra. “Los Incas: Imperio y Civilizaciones”. Renacecultrial. June 19, 2017. http://renacercultiral.blogspot.com/2017/06/los-incas-imperio-y-civilizaciones.html
Bizón, Pablo. “El Shincal de Quimivil, una capital inca en la Argentina.” Clarín, Sep 14, 2019. https://www.clarin.com/viajes/shincal-quimivil-capital-inca-argentina_0_E-M7KiS.html
Albertoni, Chino. “El Shincal, vestigio de la Gloria incaica.” National Geographic. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.ngenespanol.com/lugares/el-shincal-vestigio-de-la-gloria-incaica/
“Shincal: La huella inca en Argentina.” Contributed by Pablo Benjamín Arroyo in Youtube. Oct 1, 2015. Accessed April 23, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8936g-8SJQ&t=4s
“Los Incas en Argentina.” Contributed by Rodolfo Raffino in Youtube, 2001. Museo de La Plata, Unidad de Medios Aduiovisuales. Accessed April 23, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyvHWRsIUMs