Azampay funerary contexts during the Regional Developments Periods and the Inka conquest (Hualfín Valley, Catamarca province)

Abstract

Using information from diverse surveys performed in the zone, we analyze in this paper funerary contexts of Azampay and its surroundings area (Hualfín Valley, Belén, Catamarca), from the last moments of pre-Hispanic history, ascribed to the “Belén culture”. Tombs are classified according its constructive characteristics, number of buried individuals, their contents and disposition. Trough the concept of boundary, defined as a conceptual barrier between two places, legal states or qualities, similarities and differences in the constructive modalities and in the conception of funerary spaces, are studied. Analysisresults allow us to argue that the under-rock structures with their external wall, and the other closed tombs, constitute conceptual boundaries between the funerary and no-funerary spaces. Finally, considering the differences observed in diverse Belén tombs including inka vessels from other locations in the Hualfín Valley, we hypothesize that, in the death ambit, the inka influence produced a change in the funerary space conceptualization of local societies.