Fire reveals possible Inca structure in Quito
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A fire in the Casitagua area of Quito, Ecuador, exposed a carved stone seating area near an ancient trail in Radioloma.
Technicians from the Metropolitan Institute of Heritage (IMP) discovered the structure after the September 17 to 20 fire cleared vegetation. The seating area, cut directly into the rock near a culunco, an old pre-Hispanic path, may date back to the Inca period, though further analysis is needed to confirm this.
Following the fire, specialists inspected the areas of Tagshima, Barrio Cuba Alto, Radioloma, and Huiyachul to assess potential damage. They found no surface damage at Tagshima and Huiyachul, and while flames reached vegetation in Barrio Cuba Alto and Radioloma, they did not find any burned archaeological materials. Radioloma lies within the Lulumbamba valley, a region with evidence of human occupation stretching back over 13,000 years, from the Preceramic period around 11,000 BCE to the Colonial era in 1822.
The IMP will update records for the Radioloma archaeological site and expand its protected area to include the new finding. Anyone planning to move earth in the affected areas must first conduct archaeological investigations, as required by law.
