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The landscape of Deseado Massif in Santa Cruz province, is dominated by Jurassic volcanic geologic formations. In this geologic framework, good quality lithic raw material has a great availability and variability. Regional archaeological record presents a long human occupation sequence starting in late Pleistocene. In this paper, neutron activation analysis is implemented to characterize geochemical variability in Cantera del Rojo (CDR) and other lithic quarries within the study area. In turn, the technique is applied on archaeological artifacts from Cueva Maripe site to evaluate raw material sources. Neutron activation analysis has been frequently used on obsidian, but very rarely on other kind of rocks. Thus, this paper constitutes the first application of this methodology to identify provisioning sources of different silica rocks. Results indicate statistically significant associations between one of the quarries (CDR), which allow us to establish a geochemical identity. The Cueva Maripe site artifacts analyzed were manufactured on raw materials sourced from D9 quarry and from another unknown source. This is the first application of neutron activation analysis to the study of silica rocks to resolve archaeological problems, so it represents a landmark on the raw material provenance studies in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comparatively addresses the emergence of three Latin-American Catholic sanctuaries: Virgen de Copacabana and Señor de los Milagros de Lima, both of colonial origin (Peruvian Viceroyalty), and Virgen del Rosario of San Nicolás (Argentina, since 1983). Using an anthropological perspective, through archive research with an ethnographic approach, the primary actions and motivations that helped consolidate these sanctuaries are analyzed. Who were the material and symbolic producers of these Catholic images and in which circumstances did they act? How did they become places of devotion? Which was the role of the miracles in cult consolidation? I will examine the possibility of recognizing regularities and common logics in these processes, analyzing to what extent they express either contextual factors or Catholic sanctuaries typical dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses a collection of engraved plaques from Golfo San Matías (Río Negro province) in order to assess design recurrences which might point to the presence of ornamentation rules and/or visual information coding among the hunter-gatherer peoples who produced and used them. Then, 170 plaques from Patagonia and other regions of Argentina are systematically compared using the presence of shared motif types as the main criterion. Data are assessed using a theoretical model with expectations which link design variability/standardization, ornamental laxity/structuration and informational heterogeneity/redundancy. Results show that plaques display low design standardization, which is compatible with a low redundancy communicative function (heterogeneous content) and/or with an ornamental function with lax rules. Moreover, the shared repertoires document several inter-regional links, which are verified using different lines of archaeological evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this research is to understand pottery production in the Alamito sites (northwestern Argentina), inhabited during the first centuries AD. To know this craft production is to enter into the social dynamics of these human groups characterized by a particular way of building, distributing in the landscape and abandoning their dwellings. 55 sherds representative of the stylistic-morphological variability of the sample under study were selected and their fabrics were assessed using petrographic analysis. The methodology used includes the study of the clay matrix, classification of inclusions (type, size and shapes) and description of cavities. The regularities and singularities observed in this data allowed to detect six classes of fabric, which were compared with fabric recipes from nearby areas. Thus, this paper analyzed the relationships between the Alamito pottery and other ceramic productions of northwestern Argentina during the Formative Period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]