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This paper explores the relationships between humans and more-than-humans through the analysis of the rhythmic elements of the contemporary art installation Ajuar para un conquistador. An interdisciplinary approach bridges Art Studies and More-Than-Human Geographies to examine Ajuar and its environmental concerns, including the relationships between human and non-human worlds. Through 'rhuthmanalysis' – a new concept and word developed in the paper – textual and image analysis, and conversations with the artist, this study examines the social, cultural, and ecological meshwork of rhythms articulated within and by the art installation. 'Rhuthmanalysis' expands upon Henri Lefebvre and Catherine Régulier's rhythmanalytic project by incorporating Indigenous knowledge and an ecocritical standpoint while redefining the understanding of rhythm. The analysis explores how Ajuar, concerned with the endangerment of Patagonian birds, promotes a performative understanding of the artwork's capacities in the context of the interplay between the affective dimensions and politics of the creation of the Argentine nation-state. The paper argues that Ajuar participates in the social and political production of space and place, opening new forms of being together and challenging colonial narratives through a rhythmic lens. Moreover, this study seeks to offer a singular perspective on how approaching art as a rhythmic configuration of an intricate choreography of coexistence can provide unique insights into space and the environment. The paper concludes that 'rhuthmanalysis' is a privileged tool to address the need for a transdisciplinary methodology capable of giving account of the mutual unfolding of human and non-human existences and decolonising posthumanist geographies and rhythm studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study on the isotopic ecology of guanacos in central western Argentina. We examine the historical population ecology of guanacos using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from pre-Hispanic and modern guanaco populations (n = 129), considering variability in two ecoregions: the Monte hot desert and the Andean-Patagonian cold desert. Our study addresses the consistency of guanaco diets over time, evaluating palaeoecology to provide information for conservation of this taxon. We found significant differences in isotopic niche size between modern and archaeological guanacos. When analyzed by ecoregion, there were significant differences in niche size through time, indicating that guanacos had distinctive dietary habits and occupied different ecological niches across the ecoregions. Comparing Standard Ellipse Areas (SEA) through time and across space, we observed that the archaeological SEA for guanacos is smaller than its modern counterpart in the Andean-Patagonia ecoregion. Conversely, in Monte, the archaeological SEA is larger than the one established for modern samples. The contrast between pre-Hispanic and modern populations highlight the impact of human activity and conservation efforts on the distribution and ecology of guanacos. These findings have important implications for understanding guanaco ecology with consequences for conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Salado and Verde streams constitute the two main seasonally available freshwater courses that flow into the Atlantic coast of the Río Negro province (continental Patagonia, Argentina, 42° South). This would have favored their use in the past as corridors for human circulation between the coast and the interior. This paper presents the results of the technomorphological and geochemical analyses of the obsidian artifacts recovered in the area to constrain mobility. The results allow us to propose the existence of toolkit reconditioning or replacement activities, and the identification of different sources of provenance of the obsidians (Sacanana, Telsen, and Portada Covunco, distant up to 800 km from the study area), reinforcing the hypothesis of a coast–inland circulation, with the possible existence of circuits of exchange of this raw material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the species used in family farming systems (FFS) in Patagonia belong to the group known as neglected and underutilized species (NUS), which promote biocultural diversity and contribute to food sovereignty. Due to the scarce attention paid to NUS by agronomic sciences, little is known about their biotic pollination, although it is a well-studied aspect for commercially important plants. We evaluate the contribution of animal pollination to NUS managed by Patagonian FFS. We present a literature review of the NUS used and aspects related to their pollination and floral visitors, for which 725 papers were reviewed. FFS use 426 NUS (414 angiosperms, 10 gymnosperms and 2 ferns). Most NUS (86.7%) depend to some extent on animal pollination, either for the production of fruits or seeds that are harvested for consumption (direct dependence, 35%) or for obtaining seeds (indirect dependence, 65%), which in many cases are necessary for reseeding. Gathering and cultivation are the most common management practices for these species. Hymenoptera and Diptera are the animals that contribute most to NUS biotic pollination. Our results show that animal pollination is a key contribution of nature to sustain cultural aspects and food sovereignty of FFS in Patagonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deploys an anthropological concept of "theopolitics" to reflect on the political work done and undone by the action of grace during a dam conflict in the Aysén region of Chilean Patagonia. Exploring procedural affinities between the state's instruments for regulating environmental conflict and theories of assemblage that trace relations to overcome Western ontologies, I suggest that their convergent demand for relations to be rendered visible as the condition of environmental justice violated the ethic of gratuity through which Ayseninos participate in collective life on the Patagonian frontier. Instead of arguing for a better capture of grace within accounts of sociality, I suggest that researchers accompanying anti-extractive struggles should attend to how untraceable but nonetheless highly effective forces like grace convene coalitions for environmental justice and thus to the theopolitical conditions of staging challenges to the state and capital in Latin America. Resumen: Este trabajo antropológico conceptualiza la "teopolítica" para investigar la acción de la gracia en un conflicto de represas en la región patagónica de Aysén, Chile. Yuxtaposicionando los procedimientos del estado chileno para regular los conflictos ambientales con teorías de ensamblaje que rastrean relaciones para representar ontologías alternativas a la occidental, sugiero que su convergencia en condicionar la justicia ambiental en la visibilización de las relaciones viola la ética de gratuidad con la cual participan los ayseninos en la vida colectiva de la frontera patagónica. En lugar de abogar por una mejor captura de la gracia, propongo que los investigadores que acompañan las luchas antiextractivas latinoamericanas presten más atención la participación de fuerzas no rastreables pero no obstante muy eficaces, como la gracia, en convocar movimientos para la justicia ambiental y, así mismo, a las condiciones teopolíticas de los desafíos al estado y al capital en Latinoamerica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to address the predominantly conflictive nature of interethnic relations in the context of the Spanish colonial settlements established in the Valdés Peninsula (Chubut province, República Argentina): San José Fort and Puesto de la Fuente (1779-1810). We specifically present, describe and examine the episodes of inter-ethnic tensions and violence in these settlements over time. To achieve this, we will focus on the analysis and critical discussion of the information provided by the primary sources throughout the 31 years of occupation. Understanding the uniqueness of intercultural relations in these scenarios necessarily involved approaching them from a comparative perspective, by considering their broader historical and regional trajectory in Patagonia in the time period investigated. Consequently, we were able to identify the prominent role of indigenous groups from Southern Patagonia and recognize multiple factors contributing to the genesis of the indigenous raids experienced by these colonial settings. These results unveil the complex network of intercultural connections and colonial relations during the late colonial period in Patagonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sierra de Mamil Choique calc-alkaline granite batholith, covering an area of 320 km2, serves as the key reference for Late Paleozoic magmatism in central-west Patagonia. It comprises I-type weakly to mildly peraluminous tonalites to granites (59.6–75.7%SiO2) displaying various deformational features. This paper presents a micro- and mesostructural study alongside temperature-pressure (T-P) constraints coupled with U-Pb zircon crystallization ages, as well as Ar-Ar and K-Ar mica ages, and mineral and whole-rock geochemistry. The older units (288 ± 1 Ma Cerro Mojón Monzogranite and 281 ± 2 Ma Huenchuquil Granodiorite), exhibit syn -kinematic banding and strong NW-SE foliation showing a transition from magmatic-sub magmatic to high-T subsolidus deformational features, such as parallel alignment of magmatic minerals, sub magmatic fractures, melt pockets, and chessboard subgrains in quartz. Quartz recrystallization by grain boundary migration is also observed. These microstructures developed concurrently with the regional D3 event that affected the Devonian metamorphic host. Their crystallization started at 8 Kbar and ∼ 790 °C within a thickened crust (La N /Yb N = 13–15, average). In contrast, the younger units (278 ± 2 Ma; Nahuelfil and Antinao Monzogranites) exhibit mainly magmatic deformation and display a NE-SW parallel alignment of mostly subhedral K-feldspar. A D4 deformation younger than 278 Ma, with a sigma 1 NW-SE (in plain view- horizontal) would have controlled the emplacement of Nahuelfil and Antinao Monzogranites. Younger zircon ages (ca 265 Ma) in the 278 Ma monzogranites would result from resetting due to the magmatic-hydrothermal alteration associated with the later magmatic pulse of leucogranites and pegmatites of the 267 ± 8 Ma (Rb-Sr WR isochron) La Pintada Leucogranites. These leucogranites were emplaced in an already thinner crust (La N /Yb N = 2.6 average). The latest magmatic activity is represented by two groups of pegmatitic bodies one from 265 ± 6 to 257 ± 3 Ma and a younger one of ca. 252–251 Ma (Ar-Ar and K-Ar muscovite cooling ages). All units share a common mafic source, but the younger units crystallized from melts at lower pressure and temperature (748–725 °C). The magmatism, involving crustal recycling, occurred at an active margin during a stage of thickened crust from 290 to 280 Ma, followed by gradual thinning after 280 Ma. This change in crustal thickness fits models proposing a continuous Permian subduction with a variable dip angle of the subducted slab along the southwestern margin of Gondwana. [Display omitted] • Gondwanide orogeny in Sierra Mamil Choique reached its magmatic climax in 288–265 Ma • Regional D3, bracketed between 290 and 280 Ma, is controlled by a horizontal NE-SW σ1 • Older units are syn -kinematic with D3 by its NW-SE banding and foliation • Post 295 Ma, a mostly mafic source in magmatism with upper crustal contamination • Crustal recycling results from a relatively thick crust in active continental margin [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the strategies implemented by hunter-gatherer groups in Southern Patagonia during the Late Holocene in relation to the circulation of goods and information. Previous archaeological investigations have revealed important changes in human mobility and land-use patterns during this period, associated with increasingly dry environmental conditions. In this context, we undertake a broad spatial scale analysis of the circulation of goods and information through the integrated examination of two lines of evidence: rock art and lithic raw materials. Specifically, we consider the distribution of engravings and black obsidian artefacts assigned to the Late Holocene. The former can offer certain insights into the circulation of information, and the latter are indicative of the circulation of goods. Our analysis suggests that during this period different strategies were developed by hunter-gatherer groups to face the changing environment. Several implications concerning social interaction and the movement of people during this period in Southern Patagonia are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New mathematical model that couples biophysical and biotic interactions was generated. • We performed numerical simulations of the dynamics of 12 rodent species from Patagonia. • The model showed population dynamics combining information on species with field data. • The composition of species is driven by predation and interspecific competition. • Species were showed different on its own than in presence with other species. Species distribution models (SDM) are the spatial surrogate of the suitability of a species in the biophysical aspect, since they are based on predicting their presence using climatic and environmental indicators. SDMs are satisfactory at regional scales, where biological interactions such as predation and competition do not influence distribution. However, at the local scale, they are incomplete for characterizing the ecology of a species since the algorithms do not include information about biotic variables. In this paper, we present a mathematical model that couples biophysical and biotic interactions in a spatially explicit way. We used a distributional database of 12 species of sigmodontine rodents from Argentine Patagonia as a study case. We performed numerical simulations of the dynamics of each rodent from a stochastic and spatially explicit population model. The biophysical suitability of each species was modeled using Maxent, which generated an indicator of its patch colonization capacity. The vegetation cover of each patch was characterized with remote sensing indices, associating the coverage with the pressure of aerial predation. The effect of interspecific competition was modeled from the assembly rules. The initial occupation conditions for each species were proposed as known sites of occurrence, and the temporal evolution of these systems was compared with that obtained from using random initial occupation conditions. The obtained results not only enrich the characterization of the studied ecosystems but also underscore a remarkable predictive capacity. Aerial predation and competition for resources, in accordance with assembly rules, dynamically modify populations and their distributions, revealing intricate interdependencies among species. This novel modeling tool holds promise for forecasting potential ecological scenarios, providing valuable insights into the intricate web of species interactions and their influence on distribution patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Magallanes-Austral Foreland Basin preserves an important record of orogenesis and landscape evolution in the Patagonian Andes of Chile and Argentina. This paper evaluates the comparison between the thick Paleogene sequences in the Chilean Peninsula Brunswick (Chorrillo Chico and Agua Fresca formations) and the reduced Paleogene sequence (La Barca Formation) in the Punta Ainol locality, Argentina, by taking account of palynological and geochemical analyses. Warm and humid subtropical conditions (Subtropical Gondwanic Paleoflora) are inferred for the late Paleocene-Eocene interval studied. A new record of Lactoridaceae in the La Barca Formation expanded the known fossil range of this family in Patagonia. During the late Paleocene the Chorrillo Chico and La Barca formations would have been deposited mainly from hyperpycnal flows and this accumulation process continued until the Lutenian in the La Barca Formation. A relative rise in the sea level in the early Eocene would be recognized in both sections. In the middle Eocene a relative fall in the sea level would have occurred with increased terrigenous influx. The rate of sedimentation was similar in both sections during the Thanetian and Ypresian intervals according to the ages assigned by biostratigraphy, suggesting that the sedimentation rate would have been controlled mainly by relative changes in sea level during the Paleocene-Eocene transition. Paleoenvironmental changes during the Paleocene-Eocene transition were characterized at the La Barca Formation of the Punta Ainol section, considering the new geochemical and palynological data provided in this contribution. • A new register of early Paleogene flora of Patagonia. • Paleogeographic changes based on palynological and geochemical data. • New geochemical inferences of the Paleocene-Eocene transition in South America. • A new Paleocene-Eocene record from Southern Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]