"Pío Pablo Díaz" Archaeological Museum

Juan Calchaquí no number
Tel. 0868-91080
Open Mondays through Fridays from 8a.m. to 7p.m.
Saturdays from 10a.m. to 2p.m., and Sundays from 10a.m. to 1p.m.

This museum was created in 1964 upon the private initiative of Don Pío Pablo Díaz who began gathering archaeological material in the surrounding arco together with a group of helpers. In 1972 it come under the authority of the provincial Secretariat of Culture and Education. Its four halls divided by periods contain exhibits of lithic material, bones and ceramic, wood and metal objects belonging to the early and late periods; Inca and Hispanic-Indian regional developments. There are also pieces belonging to the Inca-Paya culture developed by the primitive inhabitants of La Paya. Worthy of mentioning is a mummified body that was originally covered with leather and wrapped in straw fastened with ropes made of plant fibers and wool. The whole funerary bundle was then covered with the wood obtained from a prickly local plant ("cardón") forming a crossed pattern. This mummy offers us a partial insight into the ritual worship of the dead. The museum also has a menhir - an anthropomorphic figure - belonging to the caray period of the Tafí culture, discovered near the Nevado de Cachi.

Cachi
Cachi is located in the Calchaquí Valleys and lies 157km. away from the city of Salta and 2,210m. above sea level. It can be reached by taking provincial route No. 33 and then switching to national route No. 40. Most of the way, the road is not paved but made of consolidated dirt, and winds around the mountain slopes. This town was born in the 17th century and has narrow streets and old houses built of adobe and stone with reed roofs. After leaving Salta and before reaching Cachi the road runs past picturesque sites such as Quebrada de Escoipe, Cuesta del Obispo, Valle Encantado, Piedra del Molino, Los Cardones National Park and Payogasta, located 2,410m. above sea level. The return trip can be tackled either by taking the Recta del Tin-Tin, a straight stretch of road laid out by the Indians at a height of 3,000m. by using bonfires as range poles, or by following national route No. 40 up to Cafayate and then traveling back to Salta down provincial route No. 68, therefore completing the entire circuit around the Calchaquí Valleys.