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We present a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal record of Los Viscos site [SCatBe6(1)], located in El Bolsón Valley, Belén Department, Catamarca province. The faunal assemblage was recovered in layers 1 and 1a, corresponding to the Late prehispanic and Hispanic-Indigenous periods, respectively. Camelids seem to have been the main resource, and wild minor fauna was marginally exploited. Consumption of camelids was focused on meat and marrow, and meat delayed consumption through drying is probable to have occurred in the Late prehispanic occupation. Comparisons with data from earlier occupations of the site suggest the continuity of the predominance of camelids, their age profiles and anatomical distribution. However, evidence of processing of other fauna is restricted to the latest occupations presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first specific results of the analyses of the practice of pottery production in the Anfama valley during the first millennium of the christian era are presented from techno-stylistic, petrographic and XRD analyses. The presence of two diachronic and overlapping occupations in El Sunchal site, an early one dated between 2000 BP and 1600 BP, and later in ca. 1100 BP allows to approach to materials from a comparative perspective. Macro and microscopic researches allowed identifying both technological features which varied temporarily and which remained relatively stable. From the obtained results and in terms of the tension between continuity and innovation observed in the practical habitus, the concept of tradition is discussed and extended as it was raised in previous works for the pottery of the Southern Calchaquí region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of the first approach that included visits to the archaeological sites and contact with the people of Rodeo Gervan. This location is situated in the last high valley area in western the Catamarca, before the Puna. It is the first research intervention of our team at the area, following the local resident's requests and invitation. Rodeo Gervan is a narrow high valley, with geographic, weather and geomorphologic features which difference it of bordering valleys of the local area. Its local and peasant population is currently settled in six points that are placed throughout the valley and shows a particular way of living. The importance of this report is that is the first in an area that was not explored before from the archaeological perspective. Data that we provide are promising for further anthropological, archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present the first systematic archaeological investigations conducted in the Balcosna Valley, Catamarca Province, NW Argentina. This valley located in the end of the foothills of the Yungas, has not extensively been mentioned in the archaeological literature. Therefore, our main objectives were understanding and interpreting the social construction of landscape in the valley. This is to say, which was the role it played regionally, in connection with the available information of the surrounding valleys. Methodologically, we conducted surveys following the paths that still exist in the valley, along with the implementation of stratigraphic test pits to delimit the different contexts of use of the identified structures. The results presented here are more than promising since we have recorded a great variety and number of archaeological sites of various shapes and sizes, together with complex systems of terraced fields and reservoirs for water storage. Thus, we interpret this valley as a place where the landscape was in constant re-creation. People who lived there probably had a permanent settlement which in turn conformed a network system interconnected with paths that are used today and, possibly, in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]