Publicación:
Evidence of a large “prehistorical” earthquake during Inca times? New insights from an indigenous chronicle (Cusco, Peru)

dc.contributor.author Combey A. es_PE
dc.contributor.author Audin L. es_PE
dc.contributor.author Benavente C. es_PE
dc.contributor.author Bouysse-Cassagne T. es_PE
dc.contributor.author Marconato L. es_PE
dc.contributor.author Rosell L. es_PE
dc.date.accessioned 2024-05-30T23:13:38Z
dc.date.available 2024-05-30T23:13:38Z
dc.date.issued 2020
dc.description.abstract A colonial chronicle written by the indigenous Peruvian author Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua ([1613?]) relates a legend of the sudden appearance of a huge animal – kilometres in length and approximately 4 m in width – and described as the Andean snake-like deity amaru. Pachacuti Yamqui alleged that this fantastic event occurred on the day that the sovereign Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui's eldest son was born around 1440 CE, and was named “Amaru”. We suggest that the underlying event was an earthquake, and that the propagation of the surface rupture across the landscape resembled a sudden appearance of a snake-like being wriggling over the mountains and leaving an undulating surface trace. The concordance between the snake's route and the layout of a major fault complex above Cusco, as well as several ethnographic testimonies, support this hypothesis. Although little is known about pre-1532 CE seismicity, the current tectonic settings of the Cusco area point to seismic awareness of the Incas (ca. 1300–1532 CE). Independent results from architectural and paleoseismological fields in the Cusco area corroborate a significant impact of large earthquakes on local societies. In Peru, without pre-Hispanic written sources, the oral folklore and traditions preserved in Spanish chronicles offer a relevant, but still underexploited resource for identifying paleo-extreme events. Combining multidisciplinary geomorphic observations, archaeological evidence and historical sources, we revisit this legendary episode and its possible implications. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
dc.description.sponsorship Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica - Concytec
dc.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102659
dc.identifier.scopus 2-s2.0-85096703966
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12390/2452
dc.language.iso eng
dc.publisher Elsevier Ltd
dc.relation.ispartof Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
dc.rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject Oral traditions
dc.subject Active tectonics es_PE
dc.subject Cusco es_PE
dc.subject Geomythology es_PE
dc.subject Historical earthquakes es_PE
dc.subject Inca es_PE
dc.subject.ocde http://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#1.05.06
dc.title Evidence of a large “prehistorical” earthquake during Inca times? New insights from an indigenous chronicle (Cusco, Peru)
dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dspace.entity.type Publication
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