﻿THE 
  DIAGUITA 
  OF 
  ARGENTINA 
  

  

  By 
  Fernando 
  Marquez 
  Miranda 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  "The 
  Diaguita 
  world," 
  as 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  expeditions, 
  or 
  

   "entradas" 
  into 
  the 
  territory, 
  called 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  the 
  Diaguita, 
  

   occupies 
  the 
  largest 
  portion 
  of 
  Northwest 
  Argentina 
  (map 
  1, 
  No. 
  11). 
  

   It 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  extensive 
  as 
  Ambrosetti 
  thought, 
  when 
  he 
  ascribed 
  to 
  it 
  

   the 
  territory 
  from 
  Chile 
  to 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  of 
  Aconquija 
  and 
  

   from 
  the 
  Peruvian 
  Highland 
  to 
  San 
  Juan, 
  but 
  is, 
  nonetheless, 
  the 
  

   largest 
  area 
  in 
  Argentina 
  occupied 
  by 
  a 
  people 
  with 
  an 
  Andean 
  culture. 
  

   In 
  the 
  north, 
  it 
  reached 
  the 
  Nevado 
  de 
  Acay 
  and 
  the 
  Lerma 
  Valley 
  in 
  

   the 
  Province 
  of 
  Salta, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  south 
  it 
  included 
  the 
  mountainous 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  San 
  Juan, 
  although 
  authors 
  disagree 
  in 
  detail 
  

   as 
  to 
  both 
  the 
  northern 
  and 
  southern 
  limits. 
  The 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chilean 
  Diaguita 
  in 
  the 
  west 
  (see 
  Lothrop, 
  this 
  volume, 
  p. 
  633), 
  and 
  

   of 
  their 
  relationship 
  to 
  the 
  Diaguita 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  Andes, 
  is 
  still 
  to 
  be 
  

   solved. 
  We 
  are 
  concerned 
  here 
  with 
  the 
  latter, 
  that 
  is, 
  the 
  Diaguita 
  

   who 
  inhabited 
  Argentina 
  northwest 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  Province 
  of 
  Tucu- 
  

   man 
  and 
  some 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  portion 
  of 
  Santiago 
  del 
  Estero 
  

   (map 
  5). 
  Within 
  this 
  area, 
  including 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  Provinces 
  of 
  Cata- 
  

   marca 
  and 
  La 
  Rioja, 
  lived 
  many 
  tribes. 
  These 
  tribes 
  were 
  governed 
  

   by 
  chiefs 
  who 
  made 
  occasional 
  alliances, 
  but 
  were 
  divided 
  by 
  the 
  

   absence 
  of 
  a 
  centralized 
  authority 
  and 
  by 
  certain 
  cultural 
  differences 
  

   to 
  be 
  mentioned 
  below. 
  The 
  chronicler 
  Lozano 
  (1873-75), 
  a 
  Jesuit 
  

   Father, 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  archives 
  in 
  preparing 
  his 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  

   Conquest 
  of 
  the 
  territories 
  which 
  later 
  formed 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Viceroyalty 
  

   of 
  the 
  Rio 
  de 
  La 
  Plata. 
  He 
  gives 
  full 
  lists 
  of 
  tribes 
  whose 
  names 
  have 
  

   often 
  survived 
  in 
  modern 
  toponymy. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  three 
  main 
  archeological 
  subareas 
  of 
  the 
  Diaguita 
  territory 
  : 
  

   Calchaqui, 
  Los 
  Barreales, 
  and 
  San 
  Juan. 
  

  

  CALCHAQUI 
  CULTURE 
  

  

  The 
  best 
  known 
  Diaguita 
  subgroup 
  is 
  the 
  Calchaqui, 
  who 
  lived 
  in 
  

   the 
  valleys 
  named 
  after 
  them 
  — 
  the 
  modern 
  Santa 
  Maria 
  Valley 
  and 
  

   its 
  southern 
  prolongation, 
  the 
  Quimivil 
  Valley. 
  The 
  Calchaqui 
  are 
  

   best 
  known 
  because 
  their 
  hostility 
  and 
  ferocity 
  toward 
  the 
  first 
  

   Spaniards 
  who 
  invaded 
  their 
  territory 
  caused 
  them 
  to 
  receive 
  great 
  

  

  637 
  

  

  