Papers by Juan Vargas
Boletín de Antropología no. 54, 2017
El presente dossier del Boletín de Antropología (BDA) de la Universidad de An-tioquía está dedica... more El presente dossier del Boletín de Antropología (BDA) de la Universidad de An-tioquía está dedicado a presentar diversas aproximaciones arqueológicas al estudio de la organización de comunidades locales. La elección de este tema, quizás uno de los más relevantes para la arqueología, se basó en tres razones: la primera es que no abundan los volúmenes de carácter comparativo que incluyan casos que por distanciarse espacial, cultural y temporalmente permitan observar similitudes y diferencias en la forma en que las personas se organizan para formar colectividades. La segunda es que, a pesar de la gran cantidad de bibliografía especializada en el tema, esta se encuentra en su mayoría en inglés, por lo que consideramos necesario tener la exposición de la discusión en castellano para un mayor impacto en el mundo académico latinoamericano. Y finalmente la tercera razón, tiene que ver con el hecho que una mirada del tema en otros países puede contribuir en la discusión del mismo
La arqueología de la guerra y el surgimiento de sociedades complejas en los llanos del Orinoco Re... more La arqueología de la guerra y el surgimiento de sociedades complejas en los llanos del Orinoco Resumen El presente artículo discute el papel que desempeñó la guerra en el surgimiento de una jerarquización social en los llanos del Orinoco, en Colombia y Venezuela. Se pre-senta una discusión en torno a los modelos etnohistóricos y arqueológicos más rele-vantes relacionados con el área en la que se sintetizan sus principales elementos, y se propone una estrategia metodológica para su evaluación arqueológica. Como conclu-sión, se argumenta que, aunque la guerra estuvo presente en los llanos de Venezuela, las tendencias tempranas a la centralización estuvieron relacionadas más con factores agrícolas que bélicos. Abstract This paper discusses the role played by warfare in the emergence of social hierarchization in the Savannas of the Orinoco in Colombia and Venezuela. Here the main elements of the ethnohistorical and archaeological models proposed for the region are summarized. In addition a methodological strategy to the archaeological analysis of warfare in the Llanos is presented. In conclusion it is argued that although warfare was present in the Llanos of Venezuela, the earliest trends to demographic centralization were related to agriculture rather than military factors.
Arqueologia y Desarrollo en America del Sur, 2013
In this paper, we analyze the relationship between the distribution of agricultural and the distr... more In this paper, we analyze the relationship between the distribution of agricultural and the distribution of population in the Gaván and Cedral regions in Barinas (Venezuela), during the Late Gavan archaeological period (550 – 1000 A.D.). The goal of this evaluation was to test the two social evolution models proposed to explain the nature and development of prehispanic complex societies in Barinas. We offer additional information that brings new analytical elements related to demographic centralization, politic integration and warfare in these regions. Our results indicate that the degree of variability of these social organizational forms was higher than the one has been considered.
The formulation of Public policies is a process that involves several actors with different posit... more The formulation of Public policies is a process that involves several actors with different positions of power, interests, knowledge, needs and expectations. In this process, conflicts often arise, thus limiting or even impeding the timely formulation of such policies. In this work, we present a conflict analysis related to the proposal of an archeological park in the Western Llanos of Venezuela. We propose that this problem should be seen as a result conflict of authority among the local communities, the government’s authorities, and the archaeologists. Since the basis of the conflict is authority, more horizontal dialogue, grass-root participation and knowledge’s democratization is needed.
Trabajos en Castellano by Juan Vargas
Thesis Chapters by Juan Vargas
This research aimed to document the political and economic strategies pursued by emerging elites ... more This research aimed to document the political and economic strategies pursued by emerging elites in the Casanare region of the Orinoco drainage in the Llanos zone at the foot of the Andes of Colombia. A comparative perspective with the complex societies from the Llanos of Barinas in Venezuela offers the analytical basis for the study of the variability in the forms of leadership, demographic scale and social organization between the societies of the Llanos.
The fieldwork on which the study was based consisted of a pedestrian regional survey of 220 km2 that combined two sampling strategies. A total of 14 archaeological sites were recorded in the bancos and high alluvial floodplains. Six of these sites were nucleated villages which range in size between 5 ha and 12 ha. In some of the largest villages, one or two small mounds were constructed expressing an incipient spatial distinction between people living in the mounded areas and the rest of the population. The concentration of considerable amounts of fine ceramics, lithic artifacts made of imported chert and faunal remains suggests elite or special communal activities around the mounds. In the study region, approximately 500 ha were covered by agricultural raised fields similar to those recorded in other regions of the South American lowlands. Their extent and location suggests that they were worked at small scale based on the labor of a few families.
The complex societies from the Llanos of Casanare emerged between 1000 and 1600 A.D., and were small in demographic scale. The emerging leaders in these communities obtained status and prestige based on the investment of family labor in raised field agriculture which provides the economic basis to support feasting and middle-distance exchange of chert. Although warfare was present in the region, it was not endemic, frequent, or intensive. This characterization suggests that the emerging elites in Casanare were not exploitative in nature unlike the elites of Barinas. These findings make it possible to study the causes and consequences of the multiple factors affecting the emergence and different types of leadership in the Llanos of the Orinoco.
Journal articles by Juan Vargas
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Papers by Juan Vargas
Trabajos en Castellano by Juan Vargas
Thesis Chapters by Juan Vargas
The fieldwork on which the study was based consisted of a pedestrian regional survey of 220 km2 that combined two sampling strategies. A total of 14 archaeological sites were recorded in the bancos and high alluvial floodplains. Six of these sites were nucleated villages which range in size between 5 ha and 12 ha. In some of the largest villages, one or two small mounds were constructed expressing an incipient spatial distinction between people living in the mounded areas and the rest of the population. The concentration of considerable amounts of fine ceramics, lithic artifacts made of imported chert and faunal remains suggests elite or special communal activities around the mounds. In the study region, approximately 500 ha were covered by agricultural raised fields similar to those recorded in other regions of the South American lowlands. Their extent and location suggests that they were worked at small scale based on the labor of a few families.
The complex societies from the Llanos of Casanare emerged between 1000 and 1600 A.D., and were small in demographic scale. The emerging leaders in these communities obtained status and prestige based on the investment of family labor in raised field agriculture which provides the economic basis to support feasting and middle-distance exchange of chert. Although warfare was present in the region, it was not endemic, frequent, or intensive. This characterization suggests that the emerging elites in Casanare were not exploitative in nature unlike the elites of Barinas. These findings make it possible to study the causes and consequences of the multiple factors affecting the emergence and different types of leadership in the Llanos of the Orinoco.
Journal articles by Juan Vargas
The fieldwork on which the study was based consisted of a pedestrian regional survey of 220 km2 that combined two sampling strategies. A total of 14 archaeological sites were recorded in the bancos and high alluvial floodplains. Six of these sites were nucleated villages which range in size between 5 ha and 12 ha. In some of the largest villages, one or two small mounds were constructed expressing an incipient spatial distinction between people living in the mounded areas and the rest of the population. The concentration of considerable amounts of fine ceramics, lithic artifacts made of imported chert and faunal remains suggests elite or special communal activities around the mounds. In the study region, approximately 500 ha were covered by agricultural raised fields similar to those recorded in other regions of the South American lowlands. Their extent and location suggests that they were worked at small scale based on the labor of a few families.
The complex societies from the Llanos of Casanare emerged between 1000 and 1600 A.D., and were small in demographic scale. The emerging leaders in these communities obtained status and prestige based on the investment of family labor in raised field agriculture which provides the economic basis to support feasting and middle-distance exchange of chert. Although warfare was present in the region, it was not endemic, frequent, or intensive. This characterization suggests that the emerging elites in Casanare were not exploitative in nature unlike the elites of Barinas. These findings make it possible to study the causes and consequences of the multiple factors affecting the emergence and different types of leadership in the Llanos of the Orinoco.