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Written by Super User. Posted in Papers - English

ROCKFALL PROCESSES AND TAPHONOMIC NOISE: EXPERIMENTAL WORK AT THE ALERO 2 IN PUNTA PORFIDO, SAN MATÍAS GULF (RÍO NEGRO PROVINCE, ARGENTINA)

DESPRENDIMIENTOS ROCOSOS Y RUIDO TAFONÓMICO: TRABAJO EXPERIMENTAL EN EL ALERO 2 DE PUNTA PÓRFIDO, GOLFO SAN MATÍAS (PROVINCIADE RÍO NEGRO, ARGENTINA)

Eugenia Carranza and Marcelo Cardillo

The North Patagonian west coast shows signs of sporadic occupations at least between 6000 and 900 years BP. In this paper, we present the results of a first approach from lithic taphonomy to Alero 2, located in the archaeological site of Punta Pórfido. The excavations carried out suggest that the rock shelter has a complex formational history, dominated by endogenous processes, such as weathering and rockfall processes that, together with the presence of potential pseudo-artifacts, pose a relevant research problem. The present work uses conceptual and methodological tools derived from lithic taphonomy and experimental archaeology to discuss the process of formation of the lithic record.

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Written by Super User. Posted in Papers - English

“PERFORATED OBJECTS”, SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS AND CIRCULATION NETWORKS: REFLECTIONS ON THE FORMS OF EXCHANGE IN THE FORMATIVE PERIOD (1500 BC-500 AD) OF THE ATACAMA DESERT, NORTHERN CHILE

“OBJETOS PERFORADOS”, ASOCIACIONES SIMBÓLICAS Y REDES DE CIRCULACIÓN: REFLEXIONES SOBRE LAS FORMAS DE INTERCAMBIO EN EL PERIODO FORMATIVO (1500 AC-500 DC) DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA, NORTE DE CHILE

Catalina Soto Rodríguez

Perforated objects are part of the elements that illustrate the exchange activities in the Atacama Desert, and in the South- Central Andes area more widely. This can be noted in the raw materials that support those objects and which come from diverse regions, far from the contexts where they have been found. Through a typological analysis focused on the morpho- functional aspects and on the identifcation of raw materials of sets of perforated objects from different sites of the Formative period (1500 BC-500 AC) in the areas of Quillagua (Calate CH-2 y CH-3), Loa Medio (Talabre 26, Chorrillos, Topater) and Salar de Atacama (Tulan 54), it has been verified that most of them were manufactured in shells from the Pacific coast and the Argentine Northwest (ANW), followed by copper ore pieces obtained from local sources. These places of origin, some of them very far from the sites, allow us to hypothesize and reflect on the ways the perforated objects were exchanged, considering their symbolic and social status in their deposit contexts. It is believed that this constitutes an advancement in the evaluation of the way these objects contribute to the construction and negotiation of embodied identities that also extend into the landscape and the territory.

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Written by Super User. Posted in Papers - English

CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD IN THE AZAPA VALLEY, NORTH OF CHILE: STYLES, DATES AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF THE HUMAN SETTLEMENT

CRONOLOGÍA DEL PERIODO MEDIO EN EL VALLE DE AZAPA, NORTE DE CHILE: ESTILOS, FECHADOS Y CONTEXTOS CULTURALES DEL POBLAMIENTO HUMANO

Iván Muñoz Ovalle

The results are presented of the analysis of a set of 116 radiometric dates obtained through the method of Carbon 14 (C14) and thermoluminescence (TL) dating. These datings were taken from nine published studies carried out in the Azapa Valley. Regarding dated samples, these were mostly taken from burials (bodies) and offerings (ceramic) from cemeteries in the Azapa Valley linked to the Middle period. Chronologically this period has been associated with the presence of the Tiwanaku Horizon in the western valleys, 500 to 1000 AD, and its most representative feature is the presence of painted pottery with forms of keros, bowls, pucos and jars. However, the datings obtained for these ceramics mostly correspond to late datings within a range from Cal 900 to 1100 AD. On the other hand, recent information obtained from cemetery Az-115 on new dates indicates that in the first eight centuries of the first millennium of the Christian era there is no Tiwanaku presence in the Azapeño settlement, but rather a type of village continuity linked to a local history with roots in the Formative period.

The present study aims: (a) to characterize the beginnings and development of the Middle period in the Azapa Valley, taking as diagnostic elements the site records of cemeteries Az -115 and Az-75, which present evidence of a local village agricultural process, including evidence related to the Formative period, spanning the Middle period until the eighth century AD; and (b) to define a second stage or phase II of the Middle period in the Azapa Valley, characterized by the consolidation of a local village settlement. In this second phase, the Cabuza, Maitas and Chiribaya styles would characterize the local ceramic styles and would also coexist mainly with styles related to Tiwanaku. Apparently, this is the stage in which local people began to define their own regional identity, whose final expression can be observed in our valleys in what is known as Arica Culture, pottery that characterizes the late Intermediate period (LIP) in the valleys and coast of Arica.

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Written by Super User. Posted in Papers - English

SKELETAL STRESS MARKERS AND SUBSISTENCE STRATEGY IN PREHISTORIC CHILEAN POPULATIONS OF THE SEMI-ARID NORTH

MARCADORES DE ESTRÉS ESQUELÉTICO Y ESTRATEGIA DE SUBSISTENCIA EN POBLACIONES CHILENAS PREHISTÓRICAS DEL NORTE SEMIÁRIDO

Elizabeth A. DiGangi and Ariel Gruenthal-Rankin

Human skeletal remains from prehistoric Chile’s semi-arid north were analyzed using the Western Hemisphere Health Index to ascertain if subsistence change from gathering/hunting to agriculture was accompanied by a decline in physiological stress as measured by common skeletal stress markers for these coastal populations. Individuals analyzed dated to the Archaic (c. 7000 BC-200 AD, n=95) and Diaguita (c. 1000-1536 AD, n=75) periods. The Archaic individuals practiced gathering and hunting subsistence, relying on desert and ocean resources. The Diaguita practiced a subsistence strategy including agriculture, food collecting from the Pacific, and camelid pastoralism. As per health index methodology, seven indicators were scored (stature, linear enamel hypoplasia, dental disease, cribra orbitalia/porotic hyperostosis, infection, degenerative joint disease, and trau- ma). Results indicated equal health index values for both samples, although there were some differences in individual indicator values. The risk of having any pathology did not increase with age-at-death. Essentially, health as measured by common stress markers did not vary substantially after subsistence change. Such results are further evidence that the hypothesis of a health decline after subsistence change to agriculture is not always demonstrated, and it is important to elucidate what buffering variables beyond diet, to include cultural adaptations, may be at play.

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Written by Super User. Posted in Papers - English

CHRONICLE OF CHILENIZATION. ANDEAN RELIGIOUSNESS IN THE ACCOUNTS OF FATHER JULIO RAMÍREZ ORTIZ. SIERRA DE ARICA, 1922-1931

CRÓNICA DE LA CHILENIZACIÓN. LA RELIGIOSIDAD ANDINA A TRAVÉS DEL RELATO DEL PADRE JULIO RAMÍREZ ORTIZ. SIERRA DE ARICA, 1922-1931

Alberto Díaz Araya and Felipe Casanova Rojas

This article analyzes two texts written by the Chilean military priest Julio Ramírez Ortiz (Por la Pampa Adusta y Tierras Gri- ses) in which he discusses different social aspects of the Andean communities of Sierra de Arica during the first years of the 20th century. These materials, elaborated on the occasion of the complex diplomatic scenario known as Chilenization, present a complex sociopolitical and ethnocentric perspective on the indigenous peoples. However, it is also possible to find interesting ethnographic descriptions of the organization, practices, and beliefs of the communities. This ambiguity would be mediated by the chronicler’s thinking of colonial origin, which seeks to account for the incidence of cultural assimilation policies imple- mented in the region by the Chilean State.

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