Inscription, Place, and Memory: Palimpsest Rock Art and the Evolution of Highland, Andean Social Landscapes in the Formative Period (1500 – 200 BC)

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As more than a means of recalling, memory is an active cultural creation and landscape inscriptions construct memories by locating place-based historical narratives. To model memory in terms of engagement with a place through inscription, this study focuses on a complex palimpsest petroglyph panel at the site of Kiñan Tanka, which is situated in the highland north-central Andes. Photogrammetric modeling and vector renderings of Kiñan Tanka’s panel are analyzed to identify the microstratigraphy of its motifs. These data are paired with recently-acquired excavation data from three nearby rock art sites to reveal a tradition of incised petroglyphs that covered approximately 1300 years (1500 - 200 BC). The spatio-temporal relationships of Kiñan Tanka’s iconography are considered within its context as a venerated place and a threshold between distinct worlds during the Formative Period.