Qillqatani

A rock shelter at 4,400 m elevation along the Rio Chila in the southwestern Lake Titicaca Basin, first systematically excavated by Aldenderfer in 1990. Archaeologists identified 36 cultural strata spanning from the Middle Archaic (c. 5500 BC) through the Late Horizon, making it one of the most deeply stratified sites in the region. The sequence reveals a pivotal transition from hunting and gathering to a pastoral economy between levels 25 and 24, with level 24 representing the first residential occupation. The shelter also features elaborate rock art panels and yielded significant Chivay obsidian assemblages.