Interacción y cambio social: Un relato arqueológico e histórico sobre las poblaciones que habitaron los valles precordilleranos de Arica durante los siglos X al XVII D. C

In the Arican foothills north of Chile two important cultural traditions interacted from the tenth to the seventeenth century. The first tradition originated in the western valleys and is known archeologically as Arica Culture. The second, originated in the Chilean Altiplano, was related to the Aimara and the Postiwanaku kingdoms, specifically Carangas. Through the study of their architecture and ceramics, we have been able to define the cultural connections that both traditions forged between them. The socio economic success reached by these cultures was the base used by the Incas first and later by the Europeans to settle in the region, although they utilized different strategies of control. The article proposes a synthesis of this complex history, highlighting the social and cultural changes that occur in the high valleys of Arica. To realize this objective we have utilized historical and archeological methodologies as well as research that has been intensively developed within the last thirty years.