Southern Andes

In this paper we will realize the new research in the Nevados de Cachi, Salta, Argentina by focusing on the
site that we called Uña Tambo, and what was its integration within the network of Inka sites in the region.
We’ll concentrate on some aspects of the settlement archaeoastronomical, without neglecting the visual
and symbolic importance of the location in that kind of sites as well as their relevance within Inka rituals
related to water, agriculture and the cult of Apus.

"A new method for determining the maximum firing temperature of ceramics and burnt clay is presented. The technique relies on measuring the magnetic susceptibility on a step-wise re-fired sample. The validity of the method has been tested by determining firing temperatures of two sets of clay samples fired at temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000 Cº. Aliquots of the same samples have been studied petrographically by optical microscopy on thin sections and analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction in order to monitor structural and mineralogical changes as a function of temperature. The method is demonstrated on samples from four geographically widely different sites and it is applied to a larger set of ceramics of
Late (ca. AD 900-AD 1450) and Inca (ca. AD 1480-AD 1532) periods from the Northwestern Argentine region, dating to a limited period of time prior to the fall of the Inca Empire. The method is shown to be a powerful tool in revealing archaeological information about the change in firing technologies in the pre-Hispanic societies in the Andean area through time."

Prehispanic South American pastoralism has a long and rich, though often understudied, trajectory. In this paper, we analyze the transition from a generalized to a specialized pastoralism at two geographical locations in the Andes: Antofagasta de la Sierra, Southern Argentina Puna, and the Ancash Highlands, Peruvian North-central Puna. Although at opposite ends of the Andes this herding specialization commences during the same moment in time, A.D. 600-1,000, suggesting that a similar process was at work in both areas. Moreover, this was a process that was irrevocably tied to the coeval development of specialized highland agriculture. From a perspective of political ecology and structuration theory we emphasis the time-depth and importance that Andean pastoralism had in shaping highland landscapes. Taking into consideration risk-management theory, ecology and environment as crucial factors in the development of a specialized pastoralism we nevertheless emphasis the importance of the underlying human decisions that drove this process. Based broadly within the field of political ecology we therefore emphasize how human agency and structure impacted on these landscapes, society and animal husbandry. Our article covers such aspects as the human and animal use of resource areas, settlement location, herding patterns, selective breeding, and human-induced alterations to pasturage.

Le pastoralisme préhispanique sud-américain a une trajectoire longue et riche, mais souvent peu étudiée. Dans cet article, nous analysons le passage d'un pastoralisme généralisé à un pastoralisme spécialisé dans deux régions géographiques des Andes: Antofagasta de la Sierra, Puna du sud de l'Argentine et Hautes-terres d'Ancash, Puna du centre-nord du Pérou. Bien que, aux extrémités opposées des Andes, cette spécialisation de l'élevage commence au même moment, soit 600-1,000 après J.-C., ce qui suggère qu'un processus similaire était à l'oeuvre dans les deux zones. En outre, il s'agissait d'un processus irrévocablement lié au développement de l'agriculture spécialisée dans les montagnes. Du point de vue de l'écologie politique et de la théorie de la structuration, nous insistons sur l'importance temporelle et l'importance que le pastoralisme andin a eu dans la formation des paysages de montagne. Compte tenu de la théorie de la gestion des risques, de l'écologie et de l'environnement en tant que facteurs cruciaux dans le développement d'un pastoralisme spécialisé, nous insistons néanmoins sur l'importance des décisions humaines sous-jacentes à la base de ce processus. Fondamentalement, dans le domaine de l'écologie politique, nous insistons donc sur la manière dont l'action et la structure humaines ont eu un impact sur ces paysages, la société et l'élevage. Notre article couvre des aspects tels que l'utilisation humaine et animale des zones de ressources, la localisation de la colonisation, les modes d'élevage, la reproduction sélective et les modifications anthropiques des pâturages.

El pastoralismo prehispánico en América del Sur tiene una larga y rica trayectoria, aunque a menudo poco estudiada. En este trabajo, analizamos la transición desde un pastoreo generalizado hacia uno especializado en dos ubicaciones geográficas de los Andes: Antofagasta de la Sierra, en la Puna sur Argentina, y las tierras altas de Ancash, en la Puna Nor-central peruana. Si bien en los extremos opuestos de los Andes, esta especialización pastoril comienza durante el mismo momento en el tiempo, 600-1,000 D.c., lo cual sugiere que un proceso similar estaba actuando en ambas áreas. Más aún, este proceso estuvo unido irrevocablemente al desarrollo coetáneo de una agricultura especializada de altura. Desde la perspectiva brindada por la ecología política y la teoría de la estructuración, enfatizamos en la profundidad temporal y la importancia que el pastoreo andino tuvo en configurar los paisajes de altura. Al tomar en consideración la teoría del manejo de riesgo, la ecología y el ambiente como factores cruciales en el desarrollo de un pastoreo especializado enfatizamos, no obstante, la importancia de las decisiones humanas subyacentes que guiaron estos procesos. Basados ampliamente dentro del campo de la ecología política, enfatizamos cómo la agencia humana y la estructura impactaron en estos paisajes, sociedades y manejo de animales. Nuestro artículo cubre aspectos tales como el uso humano y animal de áreas de recursos, ubicación de asentamientos, estrategias de pastoreo, crianza selectiva y alteraciones inducidas por los humanos sobre las pasturas.

Nuestro objetivo es estudiar las estrategias de uso del espacio por parte de sociedades humanas móviles en un paisaje andino de Patagonia caracterizado por una marcada heterogeneidad topográfica, climática y ecológica (localidad de Barrancas-Buta Ranquil, provincia del Neuquén, Argentina). Inicialmente, se analiza la estructura del paisaje desde una perspectiva biogeográfica, desarrollando un modelo de estacionalidad mediante sistemas de información geográfica. Nuestro enfoque dis-tribucional combina una prospección sistemática para caracterizar la estructura espacial del registro en superficie y eviden-cias que han sido obtenidas bajo otras estrategias de muestreo. Sobre la base de la distribución de artefactos líticos y cerámicos y de motivos rupestres, se evalúan patrones de intensidad ocupacional, diversidad funcional y circulación de infor-mación en sectores del espacio con propiedades biogeográficas diferentes. Los resultados sugieren una delimitación funcional del espacio en escala temporal promediada, en la cual los espacios intermedios habrían funcionado como lugares centrales desde donde se articulan movimientos logísticos hacia otros sectores del paisaje. Dado que la unidad de muestreo captura variación biogeográfica que se expresa en forma regional más amplia, el modelo de uso del espacio propuesto es relevante para la comprensión de la arqueología del noroeste de Patagonia en general. Palabras clave: arqueología distribucional, Andes del sur, estacionalidad, ecotonos topográficos, demarcación del paisaje The objective of our research presented here is to study the spatial organization of mobile societies from Patagonia. In particular , we focus on a region characterized by sharp contrasts in topography, climate, and ecology (Barrancas-Buta Ranquil Locality, Neuquén Province, Argentina). We begin by analyzing the biogeographic structure of the landscape, presenting a GIS-based model of seasonally available resources. Our approach combines systematic surface survey with the analysis of evidence produced by other sampling strategies, such as excavation and rock art analysis. Based on the spatial distribution of lithic and ceramic artifacts and rock art motifs, we characterize patterns of occupational intensity, functional diversity, and information flow in areas with different biogeographic properties. The results suggest a functional delimitation of space, which operates in an averaged temporal scale, where the areas of intermediate altitude would have been used as central places from where the use of other areas was articulated. Because our sampling unit captures biogeographic variation that is widely expressed, this model of spatial organization would be useful for the archaeology of northwestern Patagonia at large.

The potential of an "internodal archaeology" is illustrated through research conducted in three internodal areas along the "Andes of Capricorn" (Figure 1), to wit, the Coastal Range and Intermediate Depression of the Atacama Desert (Calate, 700 masl), the Upper Loa River (Santa Bárbara, 3000-3200 masl), and the High Andean Lakes region (4200-4500 masl). Taking advantage of internodal evidence, our goal is to establish the different forms of interregional mobility that coexisted in this area during the Late Intermediate Period or LIP (ca. 1000-1450 C.E.), assessing their respective contributions to the circulation of various kinds of goods. It will be argued that, during this period, interregional mobility at this latitude involved at least three strategies characterized by different agents, goals, and organizing principles. The concatenation of these and other practices to be identified resulted in a complex circulation system that allowed objects to travel long distances through multiple traffic chains involving sequential movements and exchanges of different sorts.

El estudio parte de una descripción etnográfica de las terminologías de parentesco de los chacobo, un grupo pano de la Amazonía boliviana, y Phinaya, un pueblo de pastores del Sur peruano. A partir del análisis genealógico, propone una aproximación comparada a las relaciones concretas entre, por un lado, la clasificación terminológica de los parientes consanguíneos y afines; y por el otro, fenómenos sociológicos como los ordenamientos duales, la formación de parentelas, las prácticas contemporáneas de alianza matrimonial y sus cambios, las pautas de residencia postmatrimonial, las ideologías culturales de la descendencia, las conceptualizaciones de la exogamia y la endogamia o la identidad y la alteridad. Las implicancias del análisis contribuyen tanto a los debates etnológicos sobre las relaciones entre las tierras altas y bajas de América del Sur, como también presentando elementos de reflexión ligados con el clásico problema de la llamada "organización dualista".

Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen is frequently employed as a means of studying the breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWP) of archaeological populations. Such studies are strengthened greatly through the application of statistical models that permit precise and model-bound estimates of weaning age, duration, trophic enrichment, and the isotopic characterization of supplementary foods. Here we present the result of a stable isotope (δ 15 N) and Bayesian computational modeling study of bone collagen from human subadults from two coastal cemetery sites located near the mouth of the River Loa in the Atacama Desert. Recent bioarchaeological and paleodemographic research on remains from these marine hunter-gatherer sites, which are contemporary with the Formative Period (1500 BC–AD 400), has found evidence for notably elevated rates of female fertility. Ultimately , we argue that the modeled BWP parameters, which indicate the early introduction of supplementary foods, support an argument of high fertility as gleaned from the bioarchaeological evidence, and that these results provide novel insights into the child-rearing prac- tices of the coastal populations of the Atacama. Indeed, these popula- tions would have seemed to have developed a set of BWP that carefully balanced the biological and economic production/reproduction of the community.

Les territoires de l’Intersalar, au Sud de l’Altiplano bolivien, sont emblématiques d’un système socio-écologique vulnérable où l’enjeu de durabilité est exacerbé par la fragilisation d’une agriculture paysanne parachutée dans le commerce mondial. La zone Intersalar constitue un espace convoité en dépit d’un milieu exigeant (froid, aridité, haute altitude, salinité, etc.). La forte augmentation des prix du quinoa et la mécanisation des pratiques agricoles, vécues comme des opportunités sans précédent par les agriculteurs aymaras, menacent l’équilibre fragile d’un système écologique et social aujourd’hui marqué par une crise de la fertilité (baisse de rendements, érosion des sols, exacerbation des conflits d’accès au foncier, etc.). La réduction significative de la complémentarité agriculture/élevage s’accompagne d’une individualisation et d’une monétarisation de certaines pratiques agricoles qui transforment les conditions du renouvellement de la fertilité. La capacité d’innovation dont font preuve les producteurs dans leurs modes de renouvellement de gestion individuelle et collective de la fertilité est donc au cœur des enjeux du maintien de l’activité agricole. Nous proposons une analyse critique du mouvement historique de la notion de fertilité, éminemment polysémique, pour ensuite en interroger le sens et les enjeux dans la zone Intersalar. Ce faisant nous proposons un regard renouvelé sur le concept de fertilité et montrons qu’il existe un fort hiatus entre les acceptions paysannes et le sens commun que lui confèrent les agronomes et lesagents de développement. Ces résultats théoriques et empiriques invitent à de nouveaux paradigmes pour penser la fertilité et accompagner les agriculteurs aymaras de la zone Intersalar.

The Middle Period of the Atacama oases, North Chile, has been characterized as a time of peace, uniform abundance, and widespread access to exotic materials. In the present work, we test this notion through a comparison of Middle Period human isotopic data (δ 13 C co , δ 15 N co , and δ 13 C ap) representing two distinct ayllus, Solcor and Tchecar, in the San Pedro de Atacama oases. We employ Bayesian mixture modeling of individual-level isotopic data to quantify and compare dietary composition within and between the cemetery populations of these two contemporary locales. Ultimately, our research shows that dietary diversity, which we take as a proxy for differential levels of participation in long-distance exchange or the access to the products thereof, was unequally distributed, and that the supposedly uniform richness of the Middle Period was similarly discontinuous. While average isotopic values for the two ayllus were similar, variance within each differed significantly, as did variance in dietary composition arrived at through modeling. By all measures , the individuals interred in Solcor 3 had more varied diets, particularly in terms of carbohydrate-rich plants, than their contemporaries interred at Tchecar Túmulo Sur, suggesting that more individuals from Solcor 3 had greater participation in/access to long-distance exchange networks. Besides providing novel insights into the lived experience of the Middle Period residents of far northern Chile, this work also demonstrates the power of Bayesian mixture modeling for the reconstruction of individual paleodiet.