Salta: Deformed skulls, rainbow coloured rocks, and an Inca curse

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Salta: Deformed skulls, rainbow coloured rocks, and an Inca curse

Salta, in north west argentina, is a rich hunting ground for geologists and archaeologists alike. To the west is the desert region of Chile, while a few hundred kilometres to the north lies the border with Bolivia. The province of Salta, originally a trading route for the Spanish across the continent, and part of the Inca trail from along the Andes, combines elements of its pre-European history with other worldly landscapes formed from its position on the edge of two tectonic plates.

In recent decades, expeditions have been made into the mountains to the west of Salta, which are an abundant source of religious remains. In Inca times the area served as a burial ground - the souls of the dead were thought to look down upon the living from the high mountain areas and provide protection. Several of these sites have now been excavated. The Museum of the High Andes in Salta contains well-preserved remains of three human bodies found in the nearby volcanic region of Llallaillaku. Atmospheric conditions in the tombs preserved hair, skin and clothing almost fully intact, so it is possible to see the human features in great detail.

The museum is very sensitive to the implications of keeping human bodies such as these on display. These are after all the remains of people taken from a burial chamber. The bodies are kept in darkened cabinets, and the visitor can chose to switch on the light or not, depending on whether they wish to see the remains or not. The musuem works closely with the indigenous tribes to ensure their respect for the dead is not violated; and all further views on displaying human remains are sought.

I met an archaeologist while I was staying in the city. She was from England, but had been doing work for the university of Buenos Aires in Tilcara, a small town midway between Salta and the Bolivian border. She had a larg number of photos of human skulls she had been working on as part of her research, some of them still with hair, skin and vertebrae attached. But she had been doing the major part of his studies on the skeletons as a whole rather than just the skull.

She explained to me that when the tombs were first discovered, the archaeologists only took the skulls for examination, believing at that time that this was the part of the body where most could be discovered about the person. It was common in life for these skulls to be deformed, or to be shaped into a cone by applying boards to the side of the head.

Initially it had been thought that this was a mark of social class, since the earliest tombs had also included a wide range of personal items such as shoes, clothes and jewelry, implying that the individual possessed great wealth. Later excavations, however, revealed similar skull deformations in much less wealthy tombs, suggesting that the practice was common across all social classes.

Since archaeological techniques had developed in more recent years, it was possible to do further work on other bones in the skeleton and this is what she had been doing: diet, lifestyle, cause of death, general health issues - could all be investigated from the remains.

She had also been doing work trying to classify and organise the vast quantities of relics which had been found. It was important for further researches to be able to place each item within a particular site and know what else was found in the same area. As well as catalouging them she wanted them properly stored to prevent damage. Even within the museum and university, neither of these had been done with an rigour: most items were simply crammed into cardboard boxes and labelled in only the most general way.

She put the blame for this on the fact that most archaeological work was done by volunteers and non specialists - primarily because there was never any funding to appoint a qualified person to supervise and oversee the task properly. I had heard a similar story from another archaeologist I had met in Bariloche. The woman in Salta was not surprised by this. She said that even at the National History Museum in London there are not enough qualified staff appointed and as a result much of what has been discovered is deteriorating in poor storage conditions.

I visited one of the pre Inca sites too, a hundred kilometres or so north west of Salta. This area was now in a fairly desolate and exposed region on the hillside, though the pre Inca tribe had had used to farm and keep cattle there. The change in soil had occurred before the time of the Inca arrival, so the tribe had left to seek more fertile land rather than be driven out or defeated in battle. It was interesting to note that the majority of houses were in fact excavated dwellings into the ground, rather than built above street level. This was to provide extra protection against the strong winds and required less building materials. There was also a wide selection of preserved pottery, flints and arrowheads.

The whole region around Salta has a wide range of geological activity. The tectonic movements between the North American and South American plates which formed the Andes range, has created the most dramatic mountains landscapes and rock formations, where one plate has collided with the other, forcing the rocks upwards. This activity has also formed a large expanse of natural salt flats in the north west of the region. The formation of the Andes deprived the land immediately to the east of the mountains of any humidity or moisture in the atmosphere, causing lakes to dry up and leavingonly the salt mineral deposits to remain. The little rain that falls in the area is sufficient to keep the salt crystals forming again and again, so with carful mangement the salt flats replenish each year.

Thearea is aso rich in many other minerals, particularly iron. The main railway in the region, colloquially known as the Train to the Clouds since it passes to around 4700m over the mountains, was originally built to transport mineals into Chile. It is still possible to see various mining operations in the region, though the train now only runs as a tourist route.

The most striking and visible effect of the minerals in the soil, however, is the wide variety of colours within the mountains, creating whole landscapes and mountainsides of bright red, yellow, black and green, depending on the elements found in a particular area. Taken together with the forests of cacti which flourish in the rocky dry soil and dust, often growingt up to 7m high, the landscape takes on an other wordly and dreamlike atmosphere. All compounded by the high altitude and its disorientating effect on the mind.

Locals chew coca leaves to try and combat the high altitude. This is an Inca plant, used as a general cure for all ills. The leaves are only partly legal - small consumption is prohibited but production is illegal. Most of the leaves come from Bolivia or Colombia. Tradition has it that when the Incas were enslaved by the Spanish conquistadores, they prayed to their sun God Inti to give them strength to endure the hard labour the Spanish imposed. Inti showed them the coca leaves, and told them it would provide them with strength, but would cause the white man to die if he tried to use their powers. Locals maintain that the God´s words were true. For the indigenous peoples only chew the leaves and suffer no ill effects, while the white man has turned the leaves into cocaine which has spread death among them.

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