Putquerurco: Ancient rock expressions of the province of Luya, Amazonas (Peru)

Abstract

The pre-colonial societies that inhabited the ancient Peruvian territory of Amazonas bequeathed us various cultural expressions in different materials. Among these, the monumental complexes and numerous hidden objects still stand out in the vegetal tangle. Other elements are also added such as the rock production reflected in rocky shelters distributed by the valleys that flow to the Utcubamba and Marañón rivers, whose study has been gradually increasing. Because rock art is a means of expression about the activities of a social group at various times in its history, this time we focus on the knowledge of the Putquerurco site, located in the province of Luya. Our intention is to understand its antiquity and the implications that iconography reveals about the social and economic life of its producers. A chronological approximation that we propose is framed in the Middle Holotocene when the formation of complex societies had not been achieved in the upper Amazon area.