The Site Contraloria Regional de Valdivia. From varadero to dock and heritage to urban context

Abstract

As a result of archaeological work done on the waterfront of Valdivia (Region de los Rios, Chile), which has built the building of the Regional Audit Office of Valdivia, it has been recorded and documented a cultural sequence that accounts the repeated occupation of this space, from prehistoric times to the present. The site Contraloría Regional de Valdivia (CRV) site presents occupations since the arrival of Hispanics (XVI century) until the twentieth century, including German settlers arriving in the city (second half of the nineteenth century), but also for important events affecting the city (such as the Great Fire of 1909) that led to profound changes in the economic and social relations of a city coming quickly to the “modernity” of twentieth century. Moreover, the fact that the place is part of “Typical Zone”, has allowed to begin to delineate new property relating worthy of rescue and to value by archaeology, thus contributing with new arguments and appeals to the story that is intended to narrate about cities.