Samaipata: Bolivia’S Megalithic Mountain

1 Samaipata: Bolivia’s Megalithic Mountain Brien Foerster 2017 Cover by Marcia K. Moore Introduction El Fuerte de Samaipata or Fort Samaipata, also known simply as "El Fuerte", is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the high jungle of Florida Province, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is situated in the eastern foothills of the Bolivian Andes and is a popular tourist destination for Bolivians and foreigners alike and is served by the nearby town of Samaipata. The archaeological site at El Fuerte is 2 unique as it encompasses buildings of three different cultures: Chanè, Inca, and Spanish. Although called a fort, Samaipata had also a religious, ceremonial, and residential function. Most academics believe that its construction was probably begun by the Chané, a pre- Inca people of Arawak origin. The Chane, together with other Arawak groups, left Guyana approximately 2,500 years ago. They developed an agrarian culture, built densely populated villages, cultivated corn, peanuts, cotton and squash, and are famous for their ceramics and graphics which have been found mainly in the pampas surrounding the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, El Fuerte in Samaipata, and in Portachuelo, Valle Abajo, Okinawa, Cotoca, El Pari, Mataral and Warnes. They also craft wooden masks and 3 fabric clothing. However, whether or not they had any metal tool making skills is doubtful, and part of the reason that this book has been written. For academics to presume that the shaped surfaces in red sandstone, including several deep niches found at Samaipata were created by a rather primitive jungle people is a stretch. For those of you who have read my books about lost ancient high technology evidence found in Egypt, Peru and Bolivia, as in shaped hard stone that could not have been achieved by the dynastic Egyptians or Inca, Samaipata is likely another example of this. In the following pages you will also see similarities between the sculpted shapes at Samaipata and those seen in Peru. Peru and Bolivia, especially the former has more megalithic sites by far than any other country in South America; in fact, Peru has more than 4 all other South American countries combined. The Chane were a rather peaceful culture and traded with the Quechua- speaking Incas in the Andes and with other Arawak-speaking groups to the north and east. Chane and Inca established a truce to join forces against the Guaraní tribes from the south, which the Incas called Chiriguanos. The Guaraní tribes raided the Chane homeland on a regular basis, and prior to the Spanish conquest, the Guaraní defeated both Chane and Inca and conquered the plains and valleys of what is now the Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia. There are also ruins of an Inca plaza and residences, dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries as the Inca empire expanded eastward from the Andes highlands into the sub- tropical foothills. The site was 5 occupied as a ritual and residential area about 300 AD by the Chane of the Mojocoyas period (200 to 800 AD). They supposedly began shaping the great rock that is the ceremonial center of the Samaipata ruin, but, again, where is the evidence that they had any tool making skills, being a jungle people for most of their existence? According to a 17th century Spanish chronicler, Diego Felipe de Alcaya, the Inca, probably late in the reign of Tupac Yupanqui (ruled 1471 to 1493), began the incorporation of the Samaipata area into their confederation, known as the Tawantinsuyu. A relative of Yupanqui's named Guacane supposedly led an Inca army to the area and with elaborate gifts persuaded the local leader, whose title was Grigota, and his 50,000 subjects to submit to Inca 6 rule. Guacane established his capital at Samaipata or Sabay Pata on a mountain top at an elevation of 1,900 meters (6,200 ft.) Samaipata means "the heights of rest" in the Quechua language spoken by the Inca. Over time, Samaipata became an Inca administrative, ceremonial, and religious center. As with other Inca administrative centers on the frontiers of the Inca world (such as Oroncota), Samaipata was protected by outlying fortresses. One has been located about 50 kilometers (31 mi) to the east called La Fortaleza. 7 Remains of rectangular Inca building The ruins of the fort are on a mountaintop overlooking the lowlands around the present-day city of Santa Cruz. Another fortress, location unknown, called Guanacopampa protected a mine at Saypurú or Caypurum, location also unknown. The Samaipata area was one of the 8 most isolated and easternmost areas of the Inca confederation of states, erroneously called an empire. More Inca constructions in the foreground According to Alcaya's account, Guacane and Grigota were killed in an attack by the Guarani people called Chiriguanos by the Spanish. The Chiriguanos were advancing from the 9 lowlands into the Andes foothills. A counterattack by the Incas failed to dispossess the Chiriguanos who remained to settle in Samaipata and its vicinity. An Inca building destroyed by fire at Samaipata gives credence to this story. The date of the war is uncertain, although many authorities date the beginning of Chiriguanos attacks on the Inca's eastern frontiers to the 1520s. The Spanish, along with Inca supporters, may have used Samaipata as a fortress and base camp as early as the 1570s, but formal Spanish settlement began in 1615 while the Chiriguanos were still threatening. A Spanish house is among the ruins. The Samaipata archaeological site of about 20 hectares (49 acres) is divided into two parts: a ceremonial sector and an administrative/residential sector. Some 10 of the construction of the Inca were built on earlier structures of the Chane. The ceremonial sector is in the northern part of the site. It is about 220 meters (720 ft.) by 60 meters (200 ft.) and consists mostly of a large rock saddle almost completely covered with carvings of both Inca and mainly pre- Inca origin. The carvings include a variety of geometric and animal figures, walls, niches, and long canal- like carvings called "the spine of the serpent" or "el cascabel" (the rattle.) Although not the most visually spectacular, the most important part of the ceremonial sector is the "coro de los sacerdotes" (choir of the priests) at the highest point of the rock. This consists of 18 niches, probably used as seats for individuals, deeply carved into the rock. At the bottom are 21 carved rectangular niches which may 11 have served as residences for priests or for the storage of ceremonial items. Other niches and alcoves are scattered around the ruin. The question remains; did the Chane or later Inca carve these niches, or did they find them already there? The residential and administrative center makes up the southern part of the site. Samaipata may have been an Incan provincial capital and has all the infrastructure associated with that status. The most prominent feature is a large trapezoidal plaza about 100 meters (330 ft.) on each side bordered on the south by a "kallanka," a rectangular building typical of Inca cities and symbolizing Incan political power. The kallanka, 70 meters (230 ft.) in length and 16 meters (52 ft.) wide was used for public gatherings, feasts, and housing visitors and soldiers. The kallanka at Samaipata is 12 the second largest in Bolivia, but apparently construction was interrupted as the drainage canal and thatched roof were not completed. Also in this sector is the Acllahuasi, a nunnery for women chosen to weave textiles for the Incas, become wives of Inca nobles, participate in ceremonies, and, on occasion, be sacrificed in religious ceremonies. The existence of an Acllahuasi was typical of important Inca settlements. 13 .

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