EL "ESTADO DE ARAUCO" FRENTE A LA CONQUISTA ESPA？OLA: ESTRUCTURACIóN SOCIOPOLíTICA Y RITUAL DE LOS ARAUCANO-MAPUCHES EN LOS VALLES NAHUELBUTANOS DURANTE LOS SIGLOS XVI Y XVII

this article discusses the archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence for the socio-political organization ofthe indigenous populations ofthe interconnected valleys ofthe nahuelbuta mountain range in south-central chile. the argument is that the socio-political structure, the demographic density, and the cultural and economic characteristics of these populations were much more advanced and complex than previously discussed in the archaeological, historical, and anthropological literature. the form ofthe socio-political organization and the settlement pattern ofthe araucanian-mapuche populations in the study areafrom the 16th to 17th centuries are hypothesized in terms of complex models ofthe andean world.