Why Here? Understanding the Location of the Pambamarca Fortress Complex
Eric Dyrdahl
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University
Introduction
By the end of the 15th century CE, the
Inka Empire stretches to Quito,
Ecuador. Most smaller polities the Inka
threaten choose to submit to Inka rule
willingly1, but a confederation of
chiefdoms north of Quito, the
Caranqui, resists Inka rule to produce
an uncommon situation2. The Inka are
forced to engage in a prolonged
conflict and build the Pambamarca
fortress complex3.
The Pambamarca Fortress
Complex is unique…
• The Inka rarely built fortresses4
• Conquest warfare largely ignored
due to ritual warfare5
Methodology: A GIS-based Approach
• Severe wind erosion leaves fortresses in shambles
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a computer
• ANSWER: The landscape!
• Landscape unchanged in past 500 years
• The Inka maintained settlement
behind forts at El Quinche
The fortress complex is one of the few
places where maize cannot grow
The Inka Chose to Build
Here Because…
• Could subsist off tubers with
supplements (especially maize) from El
Quinche
Andean Domesticates Within 1 Km of Each Site
Indigenous Forts
Complete Study Area
• Areas where maize could be grown
are in yellow, while red represents
areas where it cannot be grown
to determine what could be seen from each fortress
Andean Domesticates: Pambamarca Elevation Band Percentages Unlike Any Other Site
Rumicucho
Cayambe
Pambamarca Forts
El Quinche
• Tight clustering of forts suggests they
were protecting the landscape
Percentage of
Catchment Circle
100
Caranqui
Forts
• The Caranqui centered in enclosed
Cayambe Valley
• Viewshed Analysis: use elevation model in 3-D analyst
• Fortresses take defensive landscape into account
Cayambe
• Darker colors on the map represent
higher elevations
software program, used to answer research question
• Two data sets used: computerized elevation model and
global positioning system (GPS) points taken at sites in
the field
• Site Catchment Analysis: draw 1 km circles around
each site to examine elevation bands near each site
• Each elevation band represents different crops that
could be grown
• Six known domesticates in Andes: maize, common
bean, potato, mashwa, quinoa, ulluco7
• Pambamarca forts compared to Rumicucho (another
Inka fort nearby), Caranqui forts, Cayambe, El
Quinche, and complete study area
• How do you study fortresses then?
Study Area: Ecuador Highlands
El Quinche
• Caranqui’s main food was maize8
Relationship of Fortress and Landscape
• These 13 fortresses constitute the
largest fortification cluster ever built by
the Inka6 (see map below)
Pambamarca
Fortress
Complex
No Maize = No Caranqui
Site Catchment and Viewshed Analyses: Interacting with the Landscape
80
• Supported by ethnohistoric works9
Tuber crops could
easily be grown by
Inka in these bands
67.88
57.75
60
• Fort-to-fort communication not done
by sight (likely through trench)
40
20
21.02
14.29
8.24
6.77
3.6 2.22
• Few Caranqui in area since maize
cannot be grown here
9.38 8.84
0
Pambamarca forts are
only sites with less
than 100% of
catchment in this band
• Can see entire Cayambe Valley and
follow any moves by the Caranqui
All Except
Ulluco (13393350)
All Except
Maize (33513700)
Potato, Quinoa, Quinoa (3831Ulluco (37013878)
3830)
• Powerful location for religion10
No Known
Domesticates
(3879-5548)
Crops That Could Be Grown (Elevation Band in Meters)
Limitations/Future Studies
• Cannot conduct plant studies (erosion)
• Hard to determine which factor was the
most important in selection process
Viewshed Analysis: Panoramic View of the Cayambe Valley, But Not Forts
3-D Viewshed From Central Fort
Cayambe
Valley
• 3-D image on left shows what
is visible from the central
fortress of the complex
Map of Fortress Complex
• Blue = visible from fort
• Begin similar studies of other forts both
in the Andes and elsewhere that highlight
conquest warfare
• Tan = not visible from fort
Research Question
Why did the Inka build the Pambamarca
fortress complex where they did?
HYPOTHESIS: Inka chose this location
because they could subsist off nearby
resources AND follow the Caranqui’s
actions
• Map on right shows entire
fortress complex from above
Two Inka
forts on
route to
the valley
• Notice that while the entire
Cayambe Valley is visible from
the central fort, the two forts
directly on route to valley
cannot be seen
References Cited
1Rowe,
Central fort
from which
viewshed was
examined
Two Inka
forts on
route to
valley
J.
1946 Inca Culture at the Time of the Spanish Conquest. Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 2. Ed. J. Steward. Washington:
United States Government Printing Office. 183-330.
2Connell, S.V. and C. Gifford
2003 National Science Foundation High-Risk Research Proposal. Proyecto Arqueológico Pambamarca.
3Oberem, U., W. Wurster, R. Hartmann and J. Wentscher
1969 La fortaleza de montaña de Quitoloma en la sierra septentrional del Ecuador. Boletín de la Academic Nacional de Historia 114:
196-205.
4D’Altroy, T.N.
2002 The Incas. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
5Arkush, E. and C. Stanish
2005 Interpreting Conflict in the Ancient Andes: Implications for the Archaeology of Warfare. Current Anthropology 46 (Feb. 2005): 328. Northwestern University Library. 26 May 2006 <www.library.northwestern.edu>.
6Hyslop, J.
1990 Inka Settlement Planning. Austin: University of Texas Press.
7Moseley, M.
2001 The Incas and their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru. London: Thames and Hudson.
8 Athens, S.J.
2003 Inventory of Earthen Mound Sites, Northern Ecuador. Honolulu: International Archaeological Research Institute.
9Cobo, B.
1979 [1953] History of the Inca Empire: an account of the Indians' customs and their origin, together with a treatise on Inca legends,
history, and social institutions. Austin: University of Texas Press.
10Gasparini, G. and L. Margolies
1980 Inca Architecture. Trans. P. Lyon. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
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