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Quebrada de Humahuaca is the center of important and diverse continuous cultural developments and presents places that are key references in the archaeology of Argentina. However, numerous spaces, such as Tumbaya, have not yet been the subject of systematic and intensive research. There, the study began as a response to the interest of the local aboriginal community to know the pre-Hispanic past of the area. Tumbaya, in the central-south sector of Quebrada de Humahuaca, is a particular space since its environmental and geomorphological characteristics have allowed important interactions between the groups that inhabited the area and those of other regions, added to a social dynamic that gives a distinctive character to the sector. Within this framework, the landscapes that were configured in the central-south sector of Quebrada during the agricultural-ceramist period were studied, concerning its social identity and the links it may have had with other sectors of the circumpuneña area. The landscape approach, understood from a comprehensive perspective, allowed consideration of the natural, social and symbolic environment of the inhabitants of the area throughout its occupational history, including the materiality generated and manipulated to configure the landscape and define a particular identity. Thus, the landscape was conceived as a dynamic space, socially built by the daily activities, beliefs and value system of the social actors who carry out an act of memory that is constitutive of both their identity, their conception and legitimation of the territory.

This volume presents a collection of articles which offer different perspectives for archaeological pottery studies, regarding the understanding of pre-Hispanic social practices in Quebrada de Humahuaca, Argentina. The aim of this volume is to contribute to Quebrada de Humahuaca archaeological knowledge and its inclusion in current discussions about Andean and worldwide history of pottery production. In 2003, Quebrada de Humahuaca was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Numerous tracks, roads and settlements testify to its pre-Hispanic and post pre-Hispanic history from pre-ceramic to colonial times. Due to its strategic position Quebrada de Humahuaca has been colonized by both the Inca and the Spaniards. It also has been a stage for many battles of the Argentine War of Independence. The richness and abundance of ceramic material evidence in the landscape of the Quebrada de Humahuaca has provided archaeologists information about human behaviour and social practices both in every and ritual activities. Quebrada de Humahuaca, in the province of Jujuy (the northernmost sector of Argentina) is one of the most widely recognized archaeological zones and one of the most widely studied. Through extensive excavations of the most conspicuous settlements, archaeologists managed to characterize these pre-Hispanic agricultural societies and construct chronologies of northwestern Argentina, and to elaborate models of trans-Andean population dynamics.