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| El Molle | |
|---|---|
| Name | El Molle |
| Location | Norte Chico, Chile |
| Type | Archaeological complex |
| Period | Formative |
| Cultures | Molle culture |
El Molle is an archaeological complex in the Norte Chico region of Chile associated with pre-Columbian Formative populations. The site has produced material culture connecting to broader Andean networks including coastal and highland interactions involving participants linked to the (Valdivia culture), Chinchorro culture, Aconcagua culture, Tiwanaku, and Inca Empire. Excavations and surveys have engaged institutions such as the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of Natural History (Chile).
The complex lies within the Norte Chico corridor framed by the Atacama Desert, Copiapó River, Elqui River, Limarí Province, Coquimbo Region, and proximate to the Pacific Ocean. It occupies intermontane valleys between the Andes Mountains and the Chilean Coast Range, near routes used historically by agents from Atacama Region, Antofagasta Region, Valparaíso Region, and San Felipe de Aconcagua Province. Climate influences derive from the Humboldt Current, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and seasonal patterns documented by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CONAF, and regional offices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Archaeological chronology associates the site with the Formative Period and later sequences interacting with the Diaguita culture, Aymara people, Mapuche people, and incursions related to the Inca road system and Spanish conquest of the Americas. Research programs led by figures connected to Jorge R. Cárdenas, Tom Dillehay, Claudio Gay, and teams from Universidad Católica del Norte have debated ceramic typologies, radiocarbon dates tied to laboratories at Centro Nacional de Investigación Científica (France), and cultural affiliations comparable to the Moche culture, Wari Empire, and Chavín culture. Colonial records from archives in Santiago de Chile and correspondence preserved in the Archivo General de Indias provide documentary contrast to stratigraphic data.
Excavations have revealed burial contexts, habitation structures, storage features, and ritual assemblages comparable to those at Pitrén, Los Piches, Tulán, Cerro Pampa, and Chaglla. Artifact categories include decorated ceramics analogous to styles in Valdivia pottery, metallurgical remains paralleling Andean metallurgy, lithics similar to types from Atacama funerary complex, and botanical remains studied by teams affiliated with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Key fieldwork has been published in journals associated with the Society for American Archaeology, Latin American Antiquity, and the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Survey methodologies employed GIS tools from Esri and remote sensing from satellites managed by NASA and Copernicus Programme.
Material culture indicates social organization with craft specialization, exchange networks, and ritual practices interacting with coastal fishermen, highland herders, and caravan traders connected to the Qhapaq Ñan. Ethnographic analogies draw on studies of Aymara cosmology, Mapuche ritual, and colonial-era descriptions by Diego de Rosales and Bernabé Cobo. Funerary assemblages suggest status differentiation comparable to social patterns recorded for the Moche, Tiwanaku, and Tiahuanaco spheres. Scholarship from the American Anthropological Association, Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo (Argentina), and independent researchers has debated kinship models, craft production linked to workshops, and symbolic systems evidenced in iconography paralleling motifs in Nazca, Paracas, and Tiahuanaco traditions.
Economic reconstruction points to mixed subsistence involving agriculture on terraces and canales, pastoralism with camelids paralleling regional practices, fishing from the Pacific Ocean, and trade in obsidian, shell, and metallic goods connected to exchange networks reaching Cuzco, Arequipa, La Serena, and Potosí. Botanical and faunal assemblages analyzed by labs at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Universidad de Concepción indicate cultivation of maize, beans, quinoa, and utilization of marine resources similar to those exploited by the Chinchorro culture and Aconcagua culture. Economic models incorporate production studies comparing craft specialization documented at Tiwanaku, Wari, and Moche urban centers.
Paleoenvironmental studies use pollen cores, stable isotope analysis, and geomorphological mapping by teams affiliated with Universidad de Chile, CSIC (Spain), and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History to reconstruct past climates influenced by El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability and by the Humboldt Current. Vegetation histories include remnants of Atacama flora, irrigated valley systems, and anthropogenic impacts comparable to landscapes around Oasis de Pica and Azapa Valley. Conservation efforts have involved collaborations with ICOMOS, CONAF, and regional heritage agencies to manage threats from mining companies, agricultural expansion, and climate change documented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Category:Archaeological sites in Chile