High school student leads archaeologists to lost Inca settlement | The Art Newspaper

The site of Cerro Quemado.
Photo: Catriel Greco

Archaeologists working in northwest Argentina have discovered an unknown Inca settlement thanks to the help of a local high schooler. According to new research published in the journal Archaeological Prospection, the previously unrecorded site, called Cerro Quemado (Burned Mountain), comprises various Inca ruins, and stands at the southern frontier of their empire. Given the site’s location, this new discovery could help scholars to fill gaps in our knowledge about the Incas’ expansion from 1400 to 1532 AD.

The discovery was made after members of the Yocavil Archaeological Project held a workshop at a school in the town of Casa de Piedra, centred on adding local knowledge to maps. The workshop included a field trip to a nearby hilltop, where students were asked to mark places they knew onto satellite images. One high school student, Luis M., showed particular interest in the activity. “Luis pointed out with his finger a place on the horizon asking ‘Did you go there? You must go, there are many Indians’ houses’—a common local expression for archaeological structures,” according to Alina Álvarez Larrain of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Catriel Greco of Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), who co-authored a research paper on the find, along with Myriam Tarragó of CONICET.

To read the full article, click here: High school student leads archaeologists to lost Inca settlement