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| Molle culture | |
|---|---|
| Name | Molle culture |
| Region | Northwestern Argentina, Puna, southern Andes |
| Period | Early Intermediate to Middle Horizon (ca. 300 BCE–700 CE) |
| Major sites | Abra Pampa, Tcholliraya, Chaschuil, Antofagasta de la Sierra |
| Contemporaries | Tiwanaku, Wari, Chavín de Huántar, Nazca, Moche |
Molle culture was a pre-Columbian cultural tradition of the arid highlands and intermontane valleys of northwestern Argentina and adjacent sectors of the southern Andes active roughly between the Late Formative and early Middle Horizon periods. Archaeological assemblages attributed to this tradition show distinctive portable art, ceramic typologies, lithic technologies, and mortuary patterns that link highland communities with coastal and altiplano polities. Researchers working across sites in the Puna de Atacama, Catamarca Province, and Jujuy Province have debated its internal diversity, chronological limits, and relationships with nearby centers like Tiwanaku and Wari.
Molle-associated sites occur in the high-elevation plateaus of the southern Andes, particularly the Puna de Atacama, the southern margins of the Altiplano, and valleys of Catamarca Province and Jujuy Province. Radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic sequences place major occupation between the late first millennium BCE and the early first millennium CE, overlapping chronologically with the rise of Tiwanaku and the expansion of Wari influence. Chronological debates reference calibrated dates from sites such as Abra Pampa, Antofagasta de la Sierra, and Chaschuil, and integrate ceramic seriation used by excavators affiliated with institutions like the Museo de La Plata and universities in Buenos Aires.
Molle assemblages are notable for painted and incised ceramics, featuring geometric motifs and zoomorphic iconography comparable to traditions in Nazca and the coastal Moche sphere. Pottery forms include bowls, plates, and stirrup-spout analogues reflecting broader Andean morphological trends seen in collections curated by the British Museum and the Museo Nacional de Antropología. Lithic industries show specialized toolkits for pastoral and agricultural tasks, including projectile points, scrapers, and manos used alongside imported metal objects such as copper beads and ornaments in grave contexts reminiscent of artifacts documented by researchers at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution.
Settlement distributions indicate a mix of small hamlets, seasonal camps, and larger aggregations near water sources like the Río Juramento and salt flats such as Salar de Antofalla. Architectural remains include stone-built enclosures, low platform constructions, and storage features comparable to granary systems described in studies from Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Defensive arrangements at certain hilltop sites echo settlement strategies observed in contemporary highland polities, while communal plazas and work areas suggest ritual and economic integration similar to plazas at Tiwanaku outposts.
Subsistence strategies combine camelid pastoralism, cultivation of high-elevation crops such as quinoa and tubers, and exploitation of puna and intermontane resources. Zooarchaeological analyses document herding of llamas and evidence for butchery practices paralleled in assemblages from Antofagasta de la Sierra. Intensive pastoral mobility linked to caravan routes facilitated exchange with lowland and coastal producers documented in trade networks involving sites examined by teams from the Universidad Nacional de Catamarca and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.
Burial customs associated with this tradition display variability from single interments with grave goods to bundled and shaft tombs containing ceramics, personal ornaments, and food offerings. Funerary assemblages often include painted pottery, shell beads likely from Pacific sources, and copper items that indicate status differentiation comparable to social markers seen in Tiwanaku cemeteries. Interpretations of social hierarchy derive from spatial analyses of cemetery locations and mortuary goods, with scholarship published through the American Anthropological Association and regional archaeological journals debating kinship and corporate lineage models.
Material evidence points to long-distance interaction with coastal, altiplano, and southern Andean polities. Exotic materials—marine shells, Spondylus fragments, and metallurgical products—appear in highland contexts, suggesting participation in exchange circuits that connected centers like Chavín de Huantar, Nazca, and later Tiwanaku nodes. Iconographic parallels and ceramic importation indicate both reciprocal trade and stylistic borrowing, phenomena discussed in comparative studies by researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the National University of La Plata.
Major archaeological investigations have focused on sites such as Abra Pampa, Chaschuil, Antofagasta de la Sierra, and Tcholliraya, with fieldwork conducted by teams affiliated with institutions including the Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, and international collaborators from Oxford University and University of California, Los Angeles. Notable finds include painted ceramics, complex burial assemblages, and evidence for specialized highland craft production. Ongoing projects emphasize refined radiocarbon chronologies, ancient DNA analyses, and isotopic studies led by laboratories at CONICET and partner universities to resolve questions about population movement, interaction spheres, and the cultural trajectories that fed into later Andean developments.