Canta

Canta was a highland lordship in the upper Chillón valley northeast of Lima. Its principal curaca resided at Cantamarca, a hilltop settlement of circular stone compounds established around 1100.

The Canta fought the downriver Colli over the Chillón's waters, though they also traded and shared irrigation works. Around 1450 Tupac Inca Yupanqui's armies conquered the valley, making Cantamarca an administrative centre and grouping its people into eight ayllus. Spaniards entered in 1535; in 1544 native communities were moved to the new town of Canta, and a chapel was built on the old sanctuary hill.