Local Art and the Inca State: Analysis and interpretation of Diaguita-Inca

visual art from structural, contextual and spatial perspectives

Paola Gonzalez

Wednesday 16
th
July 4.00pm room 209

The Diaguitas were a series of chiefdoms in Nothern Chile and Argentina who were
incorporated into the Inca Empire in the later 15
th
Century leading to the incorporation of some
elements of Inca decorative styles within Diaguita material culture. Paola Gonzalez has
analysed ceramic collections, rock art and dwelling sites in the Elqui, Limar and Choapa
valleys (in the semi-arid regions of Northern Chile) to assess the decorative pattern of Diaguita-
Inca art (Diaguita phase III) from a structural perspective.

Symmetry analysis is used to compare how different groups (Diaguitas, Incas, Inca Paya and
Pacaje or Saxamar) contributed to and altered the iconography of Diaguita during phase III and
to detect stylistic variations within the Diaguita culture. There is a notable transference of Inca-
Cuzqueo decorative patterns in the representational universe of the Diaguitas. This diffusion
of Inca iconography is not simply a decorative aesthetic, as it reflects political intentions and
state ideology. The material culture is analysed in relation to its archaeological context (e.g.
mortuary and domestic) and in relation to ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources, in order to
propose how the symbolic content relates to structures of Inca iconography such as
quadripartite designs and the double specular reflection which depicts complex ideological
concepts within Andean culture.

Paola Gonzalez is a Chilean archaeologist and anthropologist. She has a broad experience
in Andean archaeology, in particular, iconographic studies and Landscape Archaeology. Her
most recent research focus is the Andean and Amazonic cultural relationship, in present and
prehispanic times, specifically the South American tradition of shamanic art. She is currently
developing studies in Peruvian Amazon, relating to Shipibo-Conibo concepts of art.
Researcher of Fondecyt Proyect from 1995 to 2014. Author of Visual Language of the
Incas (Archaeopress International Series N1848), Arte y cultura Diaguita Chilena:
Simetra, simbolismo e identidad (Ucayali Editores) and Mining and National
Monuments (Ediarte S.A.). Vice-president of the Archaeology Associaton of Chile (2010-
2013).

Organizers: Bill Sillar and Miguel Fuentes.
Institute of Archaeology (UCL)