Oroncota or Huruncuta was an Inca provincial center or capital on the border of Chuquisaca and Potosí Departments of Bolivia. Oroncota was captured by the Incas during the reign of Topa Inca Yupanqui (1471-1493) and served as a defensive outpost protecting the eastern frontiers of the Inca empire. The primary residents of the Oroncota area for more than 1,500 years have been the Yampara people. In the 16th century, during the last years of the Inca Empire and the early Spanish Empire, Oroncota and its region were under heavy attack by the Ava Guarani people (Chiriguanos) ethnic group who eventually gained control of the area.
Extensive and scattered ruins of the Inca and Yampara have been excavated by archaeologists.
Setting
The Oroncota area on the eastern slopes of the Andes consists of the narrow valleys of the Pilcomayo River and its tributary the Inkapampa River for a distance of , at an elevation of about . Agriculture was feasible near the river and on alluvial fans. Unlike many other Andean prehistoric sites, the inhabitants of Oroncota did not build stone terraces for agriculture.
On the western side of the Pilcomayo River the Pukara or Fortress Plateau rises steeply above the river valleys. The plateau is triangle shaped, about east to west at its widest point and north to south. The average elevation of the plateau is about . Although the climate is semi-arid, in prehistoric and early historic times parts of the plateau were cultivated. In the 21st century, the plateau is uninhabited and the river valleys only sparsely populated.
Oroncota is located southeast of the city of Sucre and east of the city of Potosí, the site of the richest silver mines in the Americas in the 16th century. Thus, to protect the highlands and the mines, the control of the Oroncota region was of defensive importance for both the Inca and their Spanish successors.
Based on the land suitable for agriculture, archaeologist Sonia Alconini has calculated that the population of Oroncota was between 1,442 and 4,122 during its existence as a settlement. About two-thirds of the population lived in the valleys and one third on the plateau. The most extensive ruins, and presumably the highest population, are from the Inca period.
Yampara
The Yampara or Tarabuco are the primary ethnic group occupying the Oroncota region. Oroncota was near the southern edge of Yampara territory and other lesser-known ethnic groups such as the Chui and Chicha may have been mixed in with them. The origin of the Yampara is uncertain, although they may have migrated into the area from the east. Although probably speakers of Pukina, an extinct language, in prehistoric times, by the 16th century they spoke Aymara in common with the peoples living on the high altiplano of present-day Bolivia. The Aymara drew a distinction between themselves and the "bow and arrow" (e.g. less civilized) people of the eastern mountains and forests. The Yampara seemed to have inhabited a middle ground between the "civilized" highlanders and the "less-civilized" lowlanders.
Alconini divides the prehistory and early history of Oroncota into four periods: Early Yampara (400-800 CE), Classic Yampara (800-1300 CE), Late Yampara-Inca (1300-1536 CE), and Colonial (1536-1700 CE). The different periods are distinguished by pottery styles. The early Yampara at Oroncota primarily lived in the Pilcomayo valley, but during the Classical Yampara and subsequent times, the plateau became more important for residence. Factors encouraging settlement on the plateau probably included defense.
By the time of the Incas it appears that the Yampara were allied with a number of other Aymara kingdoms in the Charcas confederation. During Inca, and possibly earlier times, and in common with other Andean peoples, the Yampara were organized into an upper and lower moiety. The center of the upper moiety was in Yotala about south of Sucre and the lower moiety was centered in Quilaquila, southwest of Sucre. Each moiety had 10 ayllus (territorial clans).
Illustrating that the Yampara at Oroncota remained some independence from the Incas is the archaeological site of Yoroma, north of Oroncota near the junction of the Pilcomayo and Incapampa rivers. Yoroma was a center for lithic tool-making and ceremonial feasting for both the Yampara and Inca. However, Yoroma retained its Yampara character during Inca times and its leaders and elites prospered. The Yampara of Yoroma retained autonomy and functioned more as allies than subjects of the Inca—perhaps united by a common enemy, the Chiriguanos.