LAS HUACAS DEL TRAFICO: ARQUITECTURA CEREMONIAL EN RUTAS PREHISPANICAS DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA

the paper analyzes ritual practices in regional traffic, based on a set of ceremonial archaeological sites identified in association with pre-hispanic routes of the atacama desert. a suggestive variety of ritual practices is identified, with differentiated distribution, along with the observation that certain manifestations were shared across the andes and around the circumpuna area, while others allude to rituals exclusive to the atacama desert. integrating ethnohistoric and ethnographic information, we generate an interpretation of the archaeological data in relation to pre-inka socio-spatial structuring, symbolic meanings and, especially, the offerings found, as representative of interregional traffic and trade.