Archaeology of the site has revealed that several phases of occupation were present at Samaipata. Before the Spanish were the Inca, and beneath the foundations of the Inca works evidence of previous cultural works was found, proving that the site was in use a long time before the might Inca. (5) So who were the people that originally carved the hill..? The site is now generally considered to be a pre-Incan site, built by the Chané people, a pre-Inca culture of Arawak origin, (3) who migrated from Guyana approximately 2,500 years ago. (6) It is suggested that the first engravings at El Fuerte were undertaken during the Mojocoyas period (AD 200 – 800) (7). Unfortunately, the exact chronology of the site is yet to be determined for the period between the Chané and the Inca, but the evidence suggests that there is more than one building phase at Samaipata.
The site was later occupied by the Inca who used it as their most advanced post of the Empire, of which it marked the frontier from the late 15th century until its fall in 1530. It was the administrative centre in charge of maintaining the order of the Inca in the region, but its principal function was keeping at bay the frequent invasion attempts of the Guarani Indians. (1) They gave it the name of “Samaipata”, which is Quechua (language of the Inca’s) and stands for ‘The Height to Rest’ or ‘Rest in the heights’, and they added several classic Inca-style masonry constructions to the complex. Around 1540 the Spanish arrived and encountered an Inca fortress. They renamed the site “El Fuerte” or “The Fortress”, and deserted the site around 1629 when they founded the settlement known today as Samaipata a few Km away.
The two parallel lines are oriented to the eastern sky at a position of azimuth 71° and an altitude of about 6.75° .
‘The orientation of the carved trail is the direction of the rise of the Pleiades at about 1AD. An observer at the top of the hill could see the rising of the Pleiades at around 500AD, and also the rising of Regulus in 600AD. The alignment of the 8 pits points to the rise of the Pleiades at 500BC and of Aldebaran at 500AD. The long rectilinear engraving near the seats complex to the East matches the rise of the Pleiades at about 500BC.
If we consider that the Pleiades cluster (‘Collca’ in the quechua or ‘Qutu’ in the aymara languages) was important in the Andean world as a celestial signal for sowing (mainly maise) or for the prediction of yields, then it is possible to think that the alignments found at Samaipata were devised for the observation of this star cluster. Accordingly, the monument should have been built between 1AD and 500 or 600AD. Perhaps the eight pits were used first and the ‘cascabel’ later on, as a more recent construction. Of course only the archaeological research may work out a precise dating for the monument.
