La Cangayé, National Historic Site in Chaco Province, Argentina
La Cangayé is an archaeological site holding remains of colonial buildings situated along the right bank of the Bermejo River. The exposed foundations and recovered artifacts provide a picture of how this former settlement was laid out and constructed.
Following a peace agreement in 1774 between Spanish explorer Gerónimo Luis de Matorras and Cacique Paykín, this settlement was established as a reduction beginning in 1780. It functioned for roughly 13 years before being abandoned in the early 1790s.
The site marks where Spanish missionaries and Mocoví people came together, with their religious and indigenous practices existing side by side. You can sense this meeting of worlds in how the ruins are arranged on the landscape.
You can walk through the archaeological remains and examine the exposed foundations and scattered artifacts on the ground. Wear sturdy shoes as the terrain is uneven and some areas are overgrown with vegetation.
Archaeological excavations in the 1940s uncovered the precise layout of this settlement and revealed it once housed around 900 people. These investigations made this site valuable for understanding how such reduction settlements actually functioned and were organized.
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