Waka Kala had minor occupations during the Early and Middle Formative Periods. In the LF1, however, it grew relatively rapidly into a moderate-sized village. The MF Sectors B and C have a combined population index value of 73. By contrast, the LF1 Sector E has a population index value of 201 (3.75 ha), an annual growth rate of 0.18%. Thus growth rate is quite high and leads me to suggest that some of this population may have derived from elsewhere, perhaps from some of the many Taraco Peninsula sites which declined in population at this time.
The site itself is located on a North-facing slope above the lacustrine plain in the community of Cala Cala, near the border with Pequery. The modern road to Taraco cuts across the lowermost portion of the site. In the uppermost portion of the site, several hundred meters to the South of the modern road, the remains of a sunken court structure may be discerned. The principal occupation seems to have been Pacajes-Inka, covering 5.5 ha with a very dense sherd scatter.
The sunken court is in the LF1 style, bearing some resemblance to the Semi-Subterranean Temple at Tiwanaku. Like the Semi-Subterranean Temple, and like the contemporaneous sunken court at Chiripa, the Waka Cala court is internally faced with stone, with large stone pillars placed at regular intervals. Some of these upright ``monoliths'' are visible on the surface today. Another point of resemblance is the presence of tenoned head sculptures. Two of these heads - one of sandstone and one of limestone - were observed by the author in rockpiles near the sunken court. There are probably many more present below the surface, as the structure has never been excavated. The heads are of the same style as those found in the Semi-Subterranean Temple at Tiwanaku.
Finally, the Waka Kala structure is associated with a stone stela, the only one known from the Taraco Peninsula. This is the stela which Portugal refers to as ``el ídolo de Cala Cala'' ([Portugal Ortíz 1981,Portugal Ortíz 1998]: 102). This piece was discovered by Maks Portugal Zamora in 1940, in the same field season in which he excavated at Chiripa ([Portugal Ortíz 1998]: 102; see also [Bandy 1999a]).
The stela is composed of a slab of red sandstone, approximately 60 cm wide by 40 cm deep by more than 190 cm high. On it is represented a human figure viewed from the front with arms extended alongside the body. The feet are represented with toes turned outward. This human figure sports a ``skirt'', an unusual feature in this style. Below the human figure's feet is a profile body, front-face feline, typical of this style. On either side of the slab is carved an elongated serpent with the head facing upwards. The uppermost portion of the stela, including what must have been the head of the human figure, has been broken off. It most likely was the victim of decapitation at the hands of the colonial extirpación de idolotría, as were countless such local sacred objects throughout the Andean region.