Sebastián Pastor, Agustín Acevedo and Gisela Sario

In this paper, we analyze two unpublished objects of portable art from the Córdoba mountain range in central Argentina and assigned to the Final Late Holocene. Their particular characteristics justify the use of iconographic tracking. For this purpose, we consider other stone and ceramic tools from the same archaeological locality, especially a set of pieces from the Patagonian and Pampean regions, with defined and quantified repertoires of motifs, allowing for interregional comparison: engraved axes, plaques and decorated Rheidae eggs. The results reveal some shared design aspects for certain types of motifs, base shapes of the figures and filling types. Thus, we are able to identify relevant problems related to the local scale within the Córdoba mountain range, but especially at the interregional scale. This is based on a hypothesis that conceives portable art objects as significant mediums in visual communication processes, integrated into the development of long-distance networks. The paper emphasizes social connections, which have traditionally received scant attention in research focused on the Patagonia, Pampa and the Central Mountain Range of Argentina.

We present a reconstruction, based on collections analysis, of funerary contexts from the Los Jazmines indigenous cemetery in Central Chile, which dates to the Late and early Hispanic Contact Periods. Funerary contexts show a local pre-Hispanic pattern accompanied by offerings that have both Incaic and European attributes. The site is characterized through its material culture, with an emphasis on pottery and exotic elements, especially European glass beads. We discuss the interaction between different social groups – the local population, Tawantinsuyu and Spaniard representatives, and Andean workers brought to central Chile by them –, to understand the processes, continuities, and changes within local communities between the 14th and 17th centuries.

We present a zooarchaeological analysis of a modern collection of 24 guanacos (Lama guanicoe), a product of the hunting, processing, consumption and disposal of the animals in a field located in the northwest of the province of Córdoba, Argentina. To the previous analyses, we add information obtained through semi-structured interviews (n=50), sometimes with the participation of two or three interlocutors, open and in-depth (n=16), and participant observation with local residents (N=8), in an attempt to contribute to the understanding of human-guanaco relations through an archaeology of the contemporary past (late 20th century to present). Our results show changes and continuities regarding the hunting, processing and use of these ungulates. In light of our results, we also discuss the symbolic and medicinal value of the species for the local community. Finally, we draw attention to how the socioeconomic and ecological changes associated with the Anthropocene have endangered guanacos at a provincial scale. Thus, we underscore the importance of addressing an archaeology of the contemporary era which contributes to biocultural conservation in the area.

Mathieu Picas

In Mexico, spiritual colonization and the conversion of pre-Hispanic sites into symbols of national identity has historically distanced indigenous peoples from their archaeological heritage. However, information from early twentieth century sources indicates that Maya communities used to bestow certain sites with religious and social meanings. These observations have been gradually disappearing from the literature as a result of the institutionalization of archaeology and development of tourism, especially in the region of the modern-day state of Quintana Roo. The aim of this paper is to analyze perceptions and uses around certain pre-Hispanic remains in this state and to examine their possible sacred value today. The opening hypothesis of this work is that certain archaeological mounds, known locally as múulo’ob, occupy an important place in contemporary Maya ritual life. The analysis will focus on two contexts that allow us to understand the sacred dimensions of certain sites in the region. The first includes remains that are involved in different aspects of rituality and memory in Báalche’, a locality in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. The second is Kantunilkín, where a particular structure has, in recent years, become a local heritage site.