Santiago was founded as a city over four centuries ago, by the Spanish conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia. Its history, however, goes back to the days when small indigenous communities chose this fertile valley as a place to settle, attracted by the benevolent climate and wealth of natural resources.
Initially, it was the hunter-gatherer bands that roamed vast areas of the central valley for shelter and food, who were to occupy this area. Archaeological evidence indicates that this site was occupied from 10,000 B.C. onwards.
Later on, the area was inhabited by a people known as the Aconcagua Culture, which was characterized by its salmon orange ceramics and the burial of their dead in small graves called barrows.
Around the year 1400 was the first conquest of this territory by the Incas. This was a peaceful occupation, based on their cultural, economic and organizational influence. They carried out administrative interventions by subdividing the territory into regions and organizing agricultural work.
