Sierra de las Quijadas — Potrero de la Aguada Southern Enclosure (Potrero Sur)
Potrero Sur Enclosure · Quijadas Southern Wall · Aguada South Terrace
Contested Holocene ambiguous — Holocene to Late Pre-Hispanic hypothesis or natural jointing·Contested Huarpe / Comechingón (?) or natural geofact (unvalidated)·🇦🇷 San Luis Province, Sierra de las Quijadas, Potrero de la Aguada southern amphitheatre terrace, Argentina
About
About Sierra de las Quijadas — Potrero de la Aguada Southern Enclosure (Potrero Sur)
Enigmatic southern enclosure terrace inside Potrero de la Aguada, a 7 km circular micro-basin amid reddish Jurassic cliffs in Sierra de las Quijadas. 9 m high with abutting circular huts 4 m diameter under Chaco scrub. Survey by O. Cahiza (2019) and unsanctioned drone lidar 2021 shows geometry akin to pre-Hispanic pircas but sandstone tabular jointing mimics natural bedding. Huarpe attribution contested: no ceramics in test pits, only 600 CE charcoal lens ambiguous hill burn, and lineaments parallel Potrero fault.
Park classifies as possible historic corrals or 19th c. Hualtaran stock enclosures, not ancient city; treated contested pending excavation.
Why it mattersTests Quijadas 'city' claims: rectilinearity proves geometry but not coursed masonry; second terrace shows same joint-parallelism as proven natural northern walls, cautionary micro-basin geoarchaeology case.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Is 600 m alignment Huarpe pircas vs Chushka joint set?
- 02Are 4 m circles huts vs collapse dolines?
Theories
- 01Quijadas southern walls are 19th c. Hualtaran pircas for goats reusing natural bedding planes
- 02If cultural, would be Huarpe seasonal camp not fortified city
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- contested — alignment if cultural c. 600 CE charcoal lens (?) else natural Jurassic jointing
- Period
- Contested Holocene ambiguous — Holocene to Late Pre-Hispanic hypothesis or natural jointing
- Culture
- Contested Huarpe / Comechingón (?) or natural geofact (unvalidated)
- Purpose
- Contested corral/hut enclosure hypothesis — rectilinear terrace or natural sandstone bedding hypothesis
- Abandoned
- unknown, canopy covered, now leaf litter
- Rediscovered
- No INA excavation; 2019 Cahiza foot survey, 2021 drone lidar snippet
- Excavation
- Unexcavated
Jurassic
Lagarcito Formation reddish sandstone deposited, jointed into tabular sheets
c. 600 CE (hypothetical)
Charcoal lens at terrace — if cultural, pircas built; if natural, Chaco hill burn
2019–2021
Cahiza survey + drone lidar trace 600 m rectilinear alignment under scrub
On the ground
Structures & features
32.5580° S · 67.0710° W · 820 m · 3 mapped features
600 m Rectilinear Alignment (0.6 m high)
alignment600 m rectilinear sandstone alignment 0.6 m high under scrub, tabular slabs
32.5585° S · 67.0715° WCircular Hut (4 m dia., kerb)
hutCircular huts 4 m diameter with slab kerb under vine forest
32.5575° S · 67.0700° WCharcoal Lens Test Pit (600 CE)
sampleTest pit with charcoal lens at 600 CE and no sherds — hill burn if natural
32.5580° S · 67.0710° W
Gallery