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The following paper presents the results of a Species Distribution Model (SDM) for grassland hunter-gatherer archaeology sites in the southern Pampas region of Argentina. The goal of this exploratory model is to provide a complementary survey model for the detection of archaeological sites in this region, which will also help characterize and discuss site locations and regional distribution patterns of hunter-gatherer occupations. Even in this largely homogenous and highly dynamic landscape, SDMs can help guide archaeological surveys by identifying some environmental variables affecting hunter-gatherer decisions, and can provide insights into mobility and archaeological settlement patterns. Among the available tools for SDM, Maximum Entropy Modeling (Maxent) is one of the most widely used approaches in archaeological predictive modelling. After controlling for bias and adjustment of several modifiable parameters, the Maxent software provided a potentially effective predictive model to direct future archaeological survey and heritage management projects. The results of this research suggest that watercourses and slope were the key environmental factors influencing the distribution of hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in the southern Pampas region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative study of forensic anthropology as the field has developed in Argentina and Uruguay, two Southern Cone countries that have transitioned from dictatorship to democracy in contrasting circumstances. In the context of investigating crimes against humanity, the archaeology of the recent past offers a "third narrative" alongside documentation and testimony, and it has had a great impact as a source of probatory material in judicial contexts in both countries. However, its focus has been almost exclusively on locating and retrieving human remains, whereas we propose a broader integral forensic anthropology that takes account of the wide range of materiality related to crimes against humanity. If forensic anthropology and archaeology are to fulfil this potential, it is fundamental that they remain independent of state power and holistic in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how significant are the ecological and climatic variables to influence the stable isotopes of guanacos. Lama guanicoe bone collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios are assumed as a macro regional average value in west Argentina, mostly as a baseline to model archaeological human diet. If stable isotopes on mammals reflex ecology and climate, we need to know how those variables influence mammals bone stable isotope ratio. This paper analyses the 13C/12C and 15 N/14N ratio on bone collagen on 122 guanacos from Northwest Patagonia during the Holocene. The results confirm significant variation in both isotopes between Monte and Andean-Patagonian specimens. Guanacos from Monte shows higher δ13C and δ15N than those from Andean-Patagonian. Temporal trends indicate variation through Holocene but this variation is not spatially homogeneous. In this paper we suggest that Medieval Climatic Anomaly had stronger effect in Monte desert than in Patagonia desert, generating driest and/or hottest conditions between 1250 and 600 years BP. Those variations need to be considered to reconstruct human diet at least during the second part of the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the archaeological training that archaeology undergraduate students of the University of Buenos Aires performed at a former illegal detention centre from the Argentinian dictatorship, the Espacio para la Memoria y la Promoción de los DDHH ex-Centro Clandestino de Detención Tortura y Exterminio 'Club Atlético' (Memorial Site for the Advancement of Human Rights, Former Illegal Detention, Torture and Extermination Centre 'Athletic Club') between 2016 and 2019. After contextualizing the development of archaeology teaching at the university level in Buenos Aires and the archaeological research at an illegal detention centre from the dictatorship, we present the results of this training to show how approaching archaeological topics in a way that is historically, politically, and physically closer to the students helped them to incorporate fieldwork and lab issues in a committed and meaningful way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of archaeological materials found at the mining sites Minas Paramillos Sur and Mina La Atala, located in the Paramillos de Uspallata and Divisadero Largo's reserve. The goals of this research are to document consumption patterns of the mining proletariat and to make comparative intra- and inter-site comparisons of artifact trends. Within the framework of historical archaeology, we analyze these artifacts in the successive stages of occupation and within sociocultural contexts marked by peripheral industrial capitalism. In order to do this, we take into account three central elements: the environment, sociocultural practices (diets, techniques, and production technologies, personal care, spatial distribution, etc.), and the political-economic context. The results show that the mining populations of northwestern Mendoza in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries worked in precarious conditions and were socially marginalized by a hegemonic discourse of greater economic development in the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracksites representing early human occupation are rare in South America. However, they have been reported in association with mammal and bird tracks from two coastal sites in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Both sites are reported in separate papers in this volume. In this paper a brief summary of the better known site is given on the basis of published information and the author's observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the analysis of a radiocarbon database of the North Coast of Santa Cruz (central Patagonia, Argentina), is presented. Dated archaeological samples were obtained from 56 different types of archaeological sites (open-air -residential sites and burials-, and also rock shelters). The objective of this paper is assessing the continuities and discontinuities in the chronological signal of the area and identifying tendencies along the Holocene. The database currently contains 75 radiocarbon dates falling between ca. 8000 and 300 BP. The radiocarbon data base provides information on the chronological, spatial and contextual variability of the archaeological record of North Coast of Santa Cruz. By means of different analysis of sum of probabilities, we present three different chronological moments of human use of the coast and intermediate zone can be identified. A first moment is represented by early evidence of settlement during Middle Holocene. A second moment corresponds to a hiatus between ca. 5800 and ca. 3900 BP without archaeological evidence. Finally, a third moment is where an increasing of chronological signal occurred, related to greater artifactual variability and an increase in the intensity of human settlement in the Patagonian region. The causes that could have influenced in the discontinuity of the chronological signal of the study area, and the characteristics of the different moments identified are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeology has been using stable oxygen as an isotopic tracer linked with water consumption for decades, and it has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool to assess paleomobility in bioarchaeology. Central-eastern North Patagonia (Argentina) is an especially appropriate region to apply it since it presents a high density of hunter-gatherer burials, it was a nodal zone criss-crossed by an extensive network of important routes, and it is characterized by a high environmental fragmentation due to the scarcity of fresh water sources. The aim of this paper is to build an empirical stable oxygen isotope baseline of terrestrial surface waters to assess the potentiality of tracing past human movement. We analyzed 46 water samples from 13 locations with permanent sources (rivers, springs, streams), compared it with predictions of precipitation and evaluated it considering seasonal variation, altitude and distance from the coast. Our results show that different post-precipitation processes change the isotopic signal from the sources with respect to the local precipitation, and highlight the relevance of analyzing terrestrial water sources. According to their oxygen isotope values we defined five hydrologic zones: Colorado River, Negro River, Closed Basins and Plains, Eastern and Western Somuncurá Foothills. Their identification shows the potential to address past human movement using stable oxygen water baselines in central-eastern North Patagonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Human body manipulation and secondary burials are widespread funerary practices in many areas of the world. The archaeology of the Pampas and North-Eastern Patagonia, Argentina, is no exception. In this paper, archaeological case studies from the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Final Late Holocene (ca. 1000–250years BP) are presented and discussed. Secondary burials were recovered that indicated an intentional manipulation of bodies. Evidences of cut marks and the coloring of bone surfaces were recorded. The bundles were composed of individuals of both sexes and diverse age categories. The Pampean region and North-Eastern Patagonia witnessed significant hunter–gatherer population dynamics during the last 1000years BP. Climatic, ecologic, demographic, and economic explanations have been proposed as the background to these changes. In this paper, it is argued that accompanying these factors, as part of a broader socio-cultural scenario, were significant social interaction networks and processes of social complementarity between groups. In this context, it is proposed that the complexity observed in relation to the handling of bodies is part of a worldview in which the body was seen as material culture – as a symbol – that played an important role for the community in group identity maintenance in a cultural context undergoing significant organizational changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Over the last decade, we have conducted an actualistic taphonomic research program in the Humid Pampas of Argentina, in order to build a corpus of information about the taphonomic agents and processes characterizing this sub-region. In this paper, we present a summary of our results after ten years of actualistic taphonomic studies in the Pampas. Our program includes both naturalistic and experimental research. Some of the controlled experiments consist of studies with different-aged guanaco bones, including sub-aerial weathering in a controlled environment, and water transport with disarticulated bones. Other studies were conducted at a local zoo, where we offered different types of prey to native small-sized carnivores (canids, felids, mustelids, and mephitids). Our naturalistic observations include the development of taphonomic transects in different environments. Through this method, we were able to study different topics among which some of the more significant are the movement of bones by small-sized carnivores and the distribution of beached Magellanic penguin specimens along the coast. Particular studies included the analyses of the content of dens occupied by small carnivores, the effects of a grassland fire in a vertebrate assemblage, the modifications produced by a local rodent -vizcacha- in the landscape, and the damage generated by pumas in guanaco carcasses. After ten years of systematic research we contributed to identify the potential mixture between modern bones and the archaeological record in relation to the environment; to determine bone preservation biases according to the properties of the record; to recognize agents responsible of bone accumulation and alteration; and to establish diagnostic criteria in order to differentiate cultural from natural patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory chapter presents a brief overview of the evolution of Argentine historical archaeology as a scientific discipline, starting from the first pioneering work until its consolidation and future prospects. It also includes a summary of each of the paper presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the mid-nineteenth century, D. F. Sarmiento introduced in Argentine literature the duality of “civilization and barbarism,” assuming that it was, at that time, an inescapable model in the analysis of society. Early in the 1880s, when the “conquest of the desert” came to an end and conflicts between city inhabitants and their urbanistic and “civilizing” urban plannings, vis-à-vis the rural populations that assumedly resisted change, worsened, the model acquired a new meaning. Taking one particular case of analysis, the foundation of the city of La Plata in lands owned by the Estancia Iraola, this paper uses archaeology to explore the limitations and falsehoods of such duality, jointly with the assumption of a simplistic relation of determinism between an environment and a particular human group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the study of the extractive metallurgical technology that was employed in four colonial mining-metallurgical sites in the high plateau (Puna) of Jujuy, Argentina, dedicated to silver exploitation during the 17th and 18th centuries. In these archaeological sites, we have identified the presence of reverberatory furnaces. We explore the development of this technology and show the results of the study of the furnaces found in the Puna of Jujuy, their functions and performance, based on our fieldwork and on the results of archaeometric analyses of smelting slag and vitrified clay samples. The excellent conservation of most of the furnaces makes them not only a great source of information for the study of colonial metallurgy in this region, but also a contribution to our understanding of mining and extractive metallurgy in the Andes, of the circulation of workers and technical knowledge and of the changes generated by the Spanish conquest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HMS Swift was a British sloop of war which sank in Patagonia - South Atlantic Ocean - in 1770. The wrecksite was discovered in 1982 by local divers from Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, and this find originated the development of underwater archaeology in the country. The article presents a comprehensive review of the various research strands addressed throughout many years, and it also reflects on the legacy that the site and the project represents for topics other than archaeology, such as heritage management, museology, and cultural industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the preliminary results of the zooarchaeological analysis of Dupuy Rockshelter (La Toma, San Luis Province, Argentina). This rock shelter has evidence of Late Holocene (Last Millennium) human occupation dating from 340 ± 40 BP. Some species, including Lama guanicoe and Ozotoceros bezoarticus , were exploited and their bones were used as raw material to make instruments. The zooarchaeological analysis is complemented by geological and phytoarchaological evidence which indicates a humid environment during the Holocene and a mixed diet that included vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Patagonian archaeological record, the preservation of wooden artefacts is very restricted. Functional analysis of lithic artefacts is a way to get a better understanding about the use and consumption of the wood. Technological and use-wear analyses are applied in order to reconstruct the production processes of the wooden artefacts, from the raw-material supplying to the production of the finished tools. In this paper we present the results of a taxonomical and techno-functional analysis of the traces preserved on the surface of the two wooden artefact retrieved from layer 17 (9390 ± 40 C14 years BP) and layer 6 (5310 ± 110 BP) at the site of Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (province of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina). The interpretation of these two objects is complicated due to the absence of ethnographical references and the lack of similar archaeological findings in Patagonian hunter–gatherers sites. However, through the observation of the use-wear traces it is possible to reconstruct part of the manufacturing process and advance hypothesis on their mode of employment. Due to the distribution of the wears and the mineral-organic residues identified on the surfaces, it is proposed that one of the wooden artefact was probably used for rock-art production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological radiocarbon databases are being increasingly used as a proxy of past demographic trends. In this paper we compile and analyze an extensive database of paleoecological information and 14 C dates from archaeological sites in northwestern Patagonia (Argentina, South America). On this basis, we assess the regional distribution of human populations since the late Pleistocene, and their relation with the evolution of Patagonian climate and landscapes. We explore the spatial and temporal distribution of evidence and discuss sampling biases affecting the record in different ecological contexts. The analysis is set in the frame of three main ecological regions that have implications for human subsistence: Andean forest, grass steppe, and shrub steppe. The intensity of the archaeological signal differs among these regions through time, being stronger and more homogeneous in the grass steppe. In the Andean forest and the shrub steppe the signal is weaker and even absent during short periods of the middle Holocene. We suggest likely sampling biases contributing to these tendencies, since these three regions present variable research cover and intensity. On the other hand, we also suggest that these differences may reflect variations in the intensity of human occupation, in favor of more attractive environments for hunting (i.e., areas where guanaco are generally more abundant). This macro-regional synthesis of the paleoecology and archaeology of northwestern Patagonia provides a platform for developing future oriented research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes and discusses the main results achieved over three decades of research on paleodemographic aspects of Late Holocene hunter-gatherers in Northwestern Santa Cruz (Argentina). Research has been guided by a model of regional settlement that proposes that, as a result of the progressive aridization process recorded in Patagonia during the Late Holocene, human groups would have reduced their residential mobility and concentrated their settlements in low altitude basins with water availability, such as Lake Cardiel and Lake Salitroso. Paleodemographic questions derived from the model relate to population regional continuity and dynamics and were tested using several lines of research at regional and local scales. The assessment of the chronological information and temporal trends of the archaeological record at the regional level allowed for a coarse grain paleodemographic approach, and acted as a mean to support hypotheses related to changes in mobility and land use strategies. Building on this, several lines of bioarchaeological evidence were used to address paleodemographic aspects of the model, including temporal, distributional, and compositional studies of the mortuary record, isotopic, morphometric and DNA analyses and the sex and age structure of the skeletal samples recovered in Lake Salitroso basin. Results point to a biological and cultural population continuity in the region during the Late Holocene. Also, a reduction in residential mobility would have favored a slight population growth of Lake Salitroso populations during the last millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compiles a database of radiocarbon dates of archaeological sites that are currently available for the Pampean region. Based on the probability distribution of radiocarbon dates from this database, major temporal trends are defined, taphonomic and scientific biases are evaluated, and their implications for demography are suggested. Results indicate a continuous archaeological signal between ca. 14,500 and 100 cal BP. During the final Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, the archaeological signal is low in ca. 14,500–12,800 cal BP, and increases to a moderate and continuous signal in ca. 12,800–7500 cal BP. The archaeological signal for the former lapse correspond to the early peopling of the region and is related to the inhabiting and exploitation of key landforms (e.g., rock shelters, river valleys) and critical resources (e.g., lithic raw material, water). The low amount of available dates for the Middle Holocene (ca. 7400–3700 cal BP), and the associated archaeological signal would be due to the combination of various factors such as taphonomic biases, organization of prehistoric populations, and even a possible low population density. The obtained low but continuous signal for this period are discussed in the framework of the proposed models for the human occupation of the region suggesting that a hypothesis about population extinctions and disruptions processes could not be sustained. Finally, during the Late Holocene (from 3700 to 100 cal BP) human occupations are recorded in all the micro-regions. Regardless of biases, this signal is interpreted as an increase in demographic density at a regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: Paso Otero archaeological locality (Pampean region, Argentina) has provided detailed paleoenvironmental reconstructions and faunal assemblages from the Pleistocene/Holocene transition and Early Holocene. This time span is represented by Paso Otero 5 (c. 10 450–10 200 14C BP; 12 593–11 353 cal. BP) and Paso Otero 4 (c. 9900–7700 14C BP; 10 667–7982 cal. BP). Palaeoenvironmental studies have been carried out on the basis of data derived from geoarchaeological, sedimentary, palynofacies, pollen, diatoms and silica microremains. Unlike other areas of the Pampean region, bone assemblages from Paso Otero include high representation and diversity of taxa. In this paper, paleoenvironmental reconstructions and faunal assemblages from both sites are integrated in order to discuss the consistency of the inferences derived from the two lines of evidence, its contribution to the paleoecological scenarios, and to faunal extinctions. It is suggested that not only hunting pressure but the mere presence of humans was a factor in ecosystem disturbance and is the most parsimonious explanation for the process of extinction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Inca polity deployed a variety of strategies in the establishment of imperial relations with the local communities of the southern provinces. These strategies included the translation of symbols materialized in architectural structures. In this sense, the ceremonial platforms denominated ushnus were spaces with particular significance and high hierarchy. In this paper, we analyze and compare two different platforms located in two sites from the Argentine Northwest, Province of Catamarca. The first archaeological site, El Shincal de Quimivil, has been considered an Inca provincial capital and the second, Hualfín Inca, an important administrative centre. The results show interesting differences between them, such as architectural forms and the archaeological record. These differences reflect not only the way in which the State operated in different territories and the nature of the relationship with local groups, but also the nuances of the historical process involving the Inca establishment in this region of the Argentinean Northwest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the spatial organization of two layers corresponding to the first half of the Middle Holocene from the Hornillos 2 rockshelter (Susques, Jujuy Province). Some important issues taken into account are the good preservation of the site and the sedimentary deposition processes which coincide with paleoclimate aspects. Correlation of different archaeological lines of evidence allows interpretation of the connection between several activity areas and their occupational intensity. There is a trash heap related to a short occupation period at the beginning of the Middle Holocene and a main zone of intense activity ca. 6200 yrs BP. These facts are in accordance with the archaeological expectations proposed for certain periods of the Middle Holocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the differential rates of diachronic change developed by diverse features of portable art in southern Tierra del Fuego. It is argued that decorative designs and techniques, which simultaneously constitute each decorated artefact, had asynchronic rates of change throughout the archaeological sequence. Results indicate that: (I) decorated harpoon points (1) had a broader and more complex design repertoire which entailed a higher labour investment and showed a faster rate of change than beads, due to a greater individual input in their decoration, (2) were richly decorated in spite of their high risk of loss/fracture, yet their decoration was concentrated in the early period of the archaeological sequence and then decreased in time due: a) to such loss/fracture risk, which jeopardised the labour invested in their decoration, (b) to a relative decrease in pinniped hunting which might have reduced the socio-economic and symbolic value of harpoons; (II) decorated beads (1) had a simpler and more standardised design repetoire which entailed a lower labour investment and showed a slower rate of change than harpoons, due to a stricter process of teaching/learning or imitation during their production and a collective way of ornamentation during their display, (2) increased with time and have been decorated during the three periods of the archaeological sequence due to: (a) their lower risk of loss/fracture, which did not endanger the labour invested in their decoration, (b) their social function as a shared form of ornamentation; (III) decorative techniques had a slower rate of change than decorative designs throughout the archaeological sequence due to their differential instrinsic variability potentials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The management and conservation of animal species should be based upon a long-term analysis that considers its geographical distribution and feeding patterns. The study of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes on skeletal remains provides a quantitative approach to the paleodietary reconstructions and constitutes a potent tool for comparing behavioral aspects of the fauna. In this paper we present the first set of isotopic values for modern and archaeological samples of Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) from the forests of Central-western Patagonia, Chile. Contrary to initial expectations, our analysis indicates that there is no evidence of an important incidence of the canopy effect on the δ13Ccollagen values, which we suggest is due to an ecological selection that drives the huemul to focus its predation on open sectors within the forest. On the other hand, a wide range of δ15Ncollagen values for huemul was verified. This could reflect the N impoverishment of the forest soils and provide an interesting ecological indicator. The long-term information offered by the archaeological record provides the necessary context for decision-making conducive towards the preservation of Hippocamelus bisulcus in Patagonia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we use non-ambiguous collections and sightings data from the 18th century to generate potential distribution models of three species of South American ungulates. These ungulates (Lama guanicoe -guanaco-; Ozotoceras bezoarticus -pampas deer- and Blastoceros dichotomus -marsh deer-) have different and specific environmental requirements. Through MaxEnt software, twenty-two environmental variables that characterize the distribution area of each species are defined. Once the models are generated, they are compared with the faunal associations found at Late Holocene archaelogical sites in order to infer paleoenvironmental conditions. We also discuss the role played by humans in the faunal associations which are "anomalous" or inconsistent with those models, like the spatial overlap of guanaco and marsh deer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Central western Argentina is the southern boundary of prehispanic maize in the archaeological record. This paper explores the stable isotope information from human bone (δ13C, from collagen and δ13C from apatite) and tooth (δ13C from enamel) samples in order to characterize the temporal and spatial trends of these isotopes and to understand them in terms of human diet. We analyzed 104 human individuals from the last 6000 years. Using the model the results shows a high variation in human diet with few human individuals with a notably high significance of C4 plants (probably maize) as an energy source and these samples have a chronology around ca. 1000 years BP. On the other hand a high variation in an individual’s dietary life history is shown by differences between δ13C collagen, apatite and enamel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents studies and discussions of pottery-making practices during the Late period (ca. A.D. 900--1450) in Northwestern Argentina. It stems from an extensive archaeological research project carried out in the middle sector of the Abaucán Valley, Province of' Catamarca, Argentina. Pottery production during this period is evaluated through the study of technological choices and technical identity, as well as its relationship to the technical behaviors developed by potters. The analysis of a large sample of ceramic sherds, complete vessels, and overfired sherds indicates that the potters produced a very narrow repertoire of ceramic forms (bowls, urns, and ollas) using local raw materials and technology, the latter with a strong hold in the area. Pottery production during the Late period was carried out in household contexts, becoming increasingly intensified and concentrated with the appearance of Inkas in the region. Additionally, some ideas are discussed concerning the technological choices of ancient potters during this period, and the implications for technological studies in archaeological ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between human societies and the environment that they inhabit have been a controversial topic in archaeology for at least the past fifty years. Currently, modern theoretical approaches take this subject as a key issue in their research agenda. This paper presents a review of the main outcomes of several archaeological and multidisciplinary South American projects related to this theme. The case-studies discussed here are all located within arid settings, and can be grouped into three broad geographic areas: Puna (or Altiplano) of northwestern Argentina, Cuyo (west-central Argentina), and southern Patagonia. These regions cover a wide latitudinal range extending from 22° to 52° S. They were selected for comparison due to environmental similarities, and a common record of past climate impacts mainly related to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Although the impacts of these climatic changes were locally heterogeneous in their intensity and the quality of the available information is regionally variable, they provide a base-line for comparison and supra-regional integration. The integration of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data on this broad supra-regional spatial scale allows us to identify interesting historical trajectories associated with particular time periods. As an example, there are some spatial rearrangements of large populations during the MCA, in the three areas. Additionally, there are variable patterns in the changes associated with the different social contexts that impose specific demographic and economic constraints. Finally, this study sets the basis for new questions and provides a guide to the methodological and theoretical issues that we need to address in order to answer them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents data regarding the provenance of obsidian artefacts in several NW Argentina archaeological sites as well as the geochemical characteristics and geologic ages of the different sources. The goal of our project was to gain knowledge about ancient trade routes through the study of the networks constructed around obsidian procurement and distribution at the onset of an agropastoral economy. The time span considered goes from 2200 years BP to 400 years BP, which also encompasses the time of consolidation of long distance exchange contacts. The objective was accomplished by (1) locating, geochemically characterizing, and dating ten potential sources (seven of which were actually used in the past) in several sectors of the Puna region (between 3500 and 4200 masl) in Northwestern Argentina, and (2) to determine the provenance of 176 obsidian artefacts from 37 sites, not only in the Puna but also in neighboring environments, such as the temperate valleys (between 900 and 3500 masl) and the western border of the subandean forest (yungas) (between 300 and 1500 masl). The methodology employed for source identification was instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to measure the trace elements in every source specimen and archaeological artefact. This has enabled accurate identification of the geographical origins and main distribution areas for several sources, while discovering changes in source utilization over time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this essay, we analyze the museum scripts and exhibitions at the two southernmost museums in the world: Museo del Fin del Mundo (MFM, Ushuaia, Argentina) and Museo Antropológico Martín Gusinde (MAMG, Puerto Williams, Chile). The research focuses on the representations of Fuegian Indigenous peoples who inhabited (and still inhabit) Tierra del Fuego. To this end, comparative analyses are based on (a) the Indigenous societies represented; (b) the types of materials exhibited (archaeological, ethnographic, contemporary); (c) the uses of oral/written/photographic information; and (d) the types of museum displays used in each display case. The analyses aim to identify and discuss the different underlying anthropological discourses about the Indigenous Fuegian societies, their associations with past and present, prehistoric and historical events in Chile and Argentina, their visibility as "subjects" and/or "agents" within the contemporary local Fuegian communities, and their involvement in the formation of the museum's exhibitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmic impact is a category of natural catastrophe neglected or misunderstood by most archaeologists in reconstructions of past human population dynamics. We discuss the nature of impact by asteroids and comets and what is known and theorized about the Quaternary Period impact record. As case studies for our exploration of how archaeological method and theory can be productively applied to the study of cosmic impact, we focus on two confirmed Holocene asteroid impacts in central and northeastern Argentina, Rio Cuarto and Campo del Cielo, both likely dating between 6 and 3 cal ky BP. We model and assess the potential destructive effects of these impacts on contemporary hunting and gathering populations using several lines of evidence. The search for Quaternary Period cosmic impacts, along with the documentation of the effects of confirmed cosmic impacts on human populations, particularly of those organized in small-scale social groups, represents a challenge and key opportunity for future archaeological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the past as a lived, inhabited reality through a series of examples of indigenous heritage practices in NW Argentina (NWA), a region that in recent decades has seen increasing indigenous demands for autonomy as well as for land and cultural rights. This article seeks to understand the locations where heritage struggles emerge, as well as the artefacts around which they emerge, as social, semantic, and physical spaces of ontological multiplicity. Understanding how such places and artefacts are constituted as lived-in-the-flesh realities today requires examination of the multiple present connections that make them possible, as well as inquiry into how the sedimentation of previous lived experiences contributes to present understandings. This article examines ancient places that become gravity points, fuelling both indigenous politics and an academic practice with its own aesthetic code. To varying degrees, the cases explored reflect our involvement – as archaeological researchers, professional advisors, and museum visitors – with re-emergent indigenous heritage practices in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present the results of XRF analysis for 428 obsidian samples from archaeological sites in the Argentinian province of Mendoza and from central Chile. The archaeological samples come from different environments and have dates that range from 9000 to 300 . The results indicate that all known sources were utilized; however, the beginnings and the intensities of their exploitation were variable. On the contrary, strong differences appear, especially between the Cordilleran and the non-Cordillera sources. We suggest that this pattern is mainly related to differences in the accessibility, quality and abundance of the obsidian in the sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tierra del Fuego is one of the southernmost insular territories of the planet. Hunter-gatherer populations inhabited it from the end of the last glaciation up to the beginning of the twentieth century. Different archaeological sites give testimony of strategies adopted by hunter-gatherers in the occupation of the insular territory. Nevertheless, most of the investigations concentrate on the northern and central steppes and on the southern coasts. The goal of our research is to study the characteristics of human occupation in the central forests. Fieldwork has led to the discovery of archaeological sites in different environments, in a variety of locations, and displaying wide functional variability. Besides campsites we have also discovered and studied a ceremonial site. The results summarized here confirm that the subantarctic forest constituted an abundant environment; a privileged landscape rich in different kinds of resources, and intensely exploited by the native populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  In the central-southeastern area of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, lies a mountainous area of low height in Tandilia that contains important outcrops of quartzite and granite. A large number of buildings are made of massive blocks of rock, some of them with a surface of over 1 ha. In addition to these completely artificial constructions are other structures that are semi-natural, having been made in places with special topographical characteristics and complemented with dry-stone walls. Scanty written documents allow us to attribute some of the constructions to an age before the permanent settlement of the Creole population. In the Tandilia Sierras these structures are commonly known as “corrales de indios” (Indian corrals). This designation involves a double prejudice with regard to function and cultural affiliation. Out of a total of 22 structures, we analyze a group of 4 that were excavated to use to review the written documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1970s, excavations were conducted in Alta Gracia, Córdoba, Argentina, in a compound that once was a seventeenth and eighteenth-century Jesuit Convent and is presently a museum. During the excavation, an amazing amount of historic material never studied before was discovered inside a sealed privy. After studying the material, we were able to identify the objects as once belonging to Santiago de Liniers, a man who successfully resisted and expelled British invaders from Buenos Aires. As a result, he was appointed Viceroy, though eventually he was shot in 1810 for confronting the Independence movement. Our hypothesis is that these objects were thrown into the privy as a gesture of contempt associated with his capture and execution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I present some results of the archaeological study about the cultural manifestation of the Ranquels. This Indian group occupied the north part of the province of La Pampa, Argentina, from the late eighteenth century until the end of the nineteenth century. Through a perspective that links the theoretical and methodological purposes of historical archaeology of the landscape, I analyze the settlements' distributions, the access to natural resources, the methods of circulation, and the strategies of interethnic conflict with the national army and the colonists on the border area. Taking into consideration the archaeological record and its contrast with written sources, I have defined some indicators about the process of culture change. My special interest concerns changes in nineteenth-century Ranquel material culture produced before the dissolution of the ethnic groups because of the military actions of the “desert conquest.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to explain and discuss the essential operational characteristics of the technology of power (sensu Foucault) perpetrated on the internal frontiers with the Indians in nineteenth-century Argentina. The conquest and colonization of the Pampas took shape in the establishment of military camp structures placed to create a defensive cordon, known as “the Indian frontier line.” These constructions were fortlets defended by gaucho cavalry squadrons (know as Blandengues during the Spanish period, and then Guardias Nacionales after Argentinean Independence). This process is known in Argentinean historiography as “the conquest of the desert.” This particular technology of power existed in this historical context and operated at every social level, impacting strongly on the lower classes that inhabited the incorrectly named “desert.” Its implementation in the military field enabled the existence of an array of micro-powers that surrounded the gaucho, called vago y malentretenido—“a vagrant and lingerer”—and their women's lives. The army as institution was the locus of various forms of coercion and old forms of punishment (such as the stakes, whipping, and public executions) most of which affected peasants, nonresidents, itinerant workers, and the rural youth. This schema was adopted in different areas: in the enrolment and discipline of the gaucho soldiers, in life in the fortlet-prisons, and in the ritualism of power. The alternative chosen by soldiers to evade this technology of power and the fortlet-panopticons was escape through desertion. The utility of those observations is demonstrated, because an important part of the area of research of historical archaeology that has developed with the greatest impetus in Argentina has taken fortlets as its subject of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the preliminary conclusions of regionally oriented research that addresses the perceived lack of focus on the surrounding archaeological landscapes of Patagonia by including a focus on open-air sites as well as for distributional data on archaeological, taphonomic and lithic raw materials. The region of southern Patagonia that was investigated is the upper portion of the Santa Cruz Basin, including Lago Rico and Largo Argentino. It is proposed that the people using the area during the past 4,000 radiocarbon years were broad-ranging, reaching the Pacific coast. Preliminary research on the lithic artifacts from north and south of the Santa Cruz River provide no important typological, distributional or technological differences.

The last decade has witnessed a marked increase in the study of social anthropology, cultural sociology and archaeology in several Latin American countries and particularly in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. There are several booknotes that will serve to illustrate some of the trends in this phase of sociology in these three countries. E. Roquette-Pinto, of the Brazilian Academy, is one of the most active and critical of Brazil's social anthropologists. In his book "Ensaios de Anthropologia Brasiliana," he is concerned primarily with population, migration and race. This last subject occupies more than half of the volume and ranges from race fertility to the spiritual qualities of the Negroes, Japanese, Indians, Hindus and the Portuguese. Eugenics is a side problem with those of race and population. The most important essay in the volume is on the anthropological types of Brazil, in which he reviews critically the accumulated literature on the subject. Numerous North Americans are cited and their views discussed. Of the fifteen essays in the Brazilian Studies, three are of especial interest to readers.