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FISHERMEN OF THE DESERT: OCCUPATION AND SUBSISTENCE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE DESAGUADERO RIVER (WEST-CENTRAL ARGENTINA) BETWEEN CA. 1200 AND 400 BP

PESCADORES DEL DESIERTO: OCUPACIÓN Y SUBSISTENCIA EN LA MARGEN OESTE DEL RÍO DESAGUADERO (CENTRO OESTE ARGENTINO) ENTRE LOS CA. 1200 Y 400 AÑOS AP

Horacio Chiavazza, Cristina Prieto-Olavarría, Fernando Hernández, Lorena Puebla, Marcos Quiroga and Jorge Anzorena

This article presents the results of the archaeological study of the PA68 site in the El Quebrachito lagoon, located on a lunette sand dune next to an old wetland of the Desaguadero River (Gran Llanura de la Travesía, west-central Argentina). Based on the results of radiocarbon dating and of ceramic, archaeofaunistic, and lithic material analyses, it is postulated that between ca. 1200 and 800 years BP, during the Medieval Climate Optimum, populations intensified the occupation of the area and of this site in particular. Occupations, within a logistic mobility pattern, around ca. 400 years BP during the Little Ice Age are also recorded. Although strong alterations can be observed in these remains, as they are deposited in the dunes, these do not hinder the interpretation of the process of use of riverside environments with occupations linked to subsistence modes, focused on fishing and technologies, which took advantage of mineral resources in the north of Mendoza, as well as others to the east of the study area.

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DEPICTED ANIMALS AND HUNTED ANIMALS: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF HUMAN-ANIMAL SYMBOLIC INTERACTION AMONG THE COMPLEX HUNTER-GATHERERS FROM THE PARANÁ RIVER LOWLANDS (ARGENTINA)

ANIMALES REPRESENTADOS Y ANIMALES CAZADOS: APORTES PARA EL ESTUDIO ARQUEOLÓGICO DE LA INTERACCIÓN SIMBÓLICA HUMANOS-FAUNA ENTRE LOS CAZADORES-RECOLECTORES COMPLEJOS DE LAS TIERRAS BAJAS DEL PARANÁ (ARGENTINA)

Flavia V. Ottalagano

In this paper, 191 ceramic zoomorphic motifs from the lowlands of the Paraná River (northeastern Argentina) are taxonomically identified. Subsequently, this iconographic record is compared with the available zooarchaeological record to contrast the animals depicted in pre-Hispanic art with those actually consumed. The sample analyzed, obtained from museum collections and author excavations, was recovered from complex hunter-gatherer sites dating from between 1056 ± 47 and 488 ± 24 years 14C BP. The data show discordance between the animals routinely hunted for food (fish, small rodents, and deer) and those frequently portra- yed in the pre-Hispanic ceramic (birds, felines, capybaras, and ophidians). This analysis attempts to further our understanding of human-animal interaction and to delve into the symbolic roles that some faunal species played in the small-scale societies that inhabited the area during the Late Holocene.

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VALUATION OF THE CHOMACHE PAINTINGS ON THE ARID COAST OF THE ATACAMA DESERT (NORTH OF CHILE)

VALORACIÓN DE LAS PINTURAS DE CHOMACHE EN LA COSTA ÁRIDA DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA (NORTE DE CHILE)

Lautaro Núñez and Luis Briones

In this paper, we describe and analyze the panel with pictographs of Punta Chomache, located on the coast of the Atacama Desert, between Iquique and the mouth of the Loa River. The panel has geometric and conventional designs, mainly of fish, birds, and camelids, which are painted with white pigment and red additions. A chronological and cultural transitional affiliation during the Early Pica-Tarapacá Complex (650-900 to 1450 AD) is suggested, probably associated with a low density coastal occupation and possibly with a dual residence pattern. It would be a peripheral enclave integrated into the caravan networks coming from the oasis of Pica and Guatacondo/Tamentica. The panel is interpreted as a visual and ritual sign regarding the recurrence of exceptional fish stranding events, which caused feasts, social interactions, and transfers of surpluses to the fertile interior nodes.

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NEW EVIDENCE ON METALWORK UNDER THE INKA DOMAIN AND THE BEGINNING OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST IN THE SANTIAGO VALLEY (CENTRAL CHILE)

NUEVOS ANTECEDENTES SOBRE EL TRABAJO EN METALES BAJO EL DOMINIO INKA E INICIOS DE LA CONQUISTA ESPAÑOLA EN LA CUENCA DE SANTIAGO (CHILE CENTRAL)

Elvira Latorre Blanco and Horacio De Rosa

We present the characterization of five metallic objects from the sites of Talleres-Cocheras del Metro and Salvador 1, both located in the Santiago basin. Morphological, microstructural, and chemical composition analyses indicate that the objects from the first site are an unalloyed copper horseshoe manufactured by casting, two iron horseshoe fragments and a copper- tin alloy chisel, whereas the artefact from Salvador 1 is a chisel made of a copper-tin alloy. The results are compared to contemporary pieces from central Chile and the semiarid north, concluding that the chisel from Salvador 1 might be part of a pre-Inka tradition, characteristic of the southern sector of the semiarid north, while the Talleres-Cocheras chisel may be the product of a later tradition, with technological influences from northwestern Argentina that had been spread by the Inka. In addition, the copper horseshoe was probably manufactured in central Chile following a pre-Hispanic technological style typical of the southern Andes, suggesting a possible continuity of this metallurgical tradition under Spanish rule.

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“ETHNOLOGY AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF CHILE”. AN UNPUBLISHED LECTURE BY MAX UHLE AT UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE, 1914

“ETNOLOGÍA E HISTORIA ANTIGUA DE CHILE”. UNA CONFERENCIA INÉDITA DE MAX UHLE EN LA UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE, 1914

Jorge Pavéz

This paper presents a transcription of an unpublished lecture given by the German Andean archaeologist Max Uhle (1856- 1944) at Universidad de Chile in 1914. Here, Uhle presents his main assumptions on the ancient history of Chile, which he developed during his three years of residence and research in the country and which are also supported by his extensive research in the Central and Southern Andes. The lecture offers empirical and theoretical knowledge elaborated by Uhle to give account of the formation of cultures in the Chilean territory, namely: the distinction between anthropometric and civilizational evidence, the use of linguistic marks for cultural analysis, the development of time sequences from stylistic comparisons, the application of diffusionist notions to the phenomenon of historical and cultural contacts, and the identification of two types of “influences” on the nations of the current Chilean territory – “hordes” from the East and “civilizations” from the North, the latter being clearly distinguished by their Tiahuanaco and Inca “horizons”, allowing him to postulate the idea of “regional developments” in the Chilean territory.

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