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Copyright of Americanía. Revista de Estudios Latinoamericanos is the property of Revista Americania - Universidad Pablo de Olavide and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The following paper presents the results of a Species Distribution Model (SDM) for grassland hunter-gatherer archaeology sites in the southern Pampas region of Argentina. The goal of this exploratory model is to provide a complementary survey model for the detection of archaeological sites in this region, which will also help characterize and discuss site locations and regional distribution patterns of hunter-gatherer occupations. Even in this largely homogenous and highly dynamic landscape, SDMs can help guide archaeological surveys by identifying some environmental variables affecting hunter-gatherer decisions, and can provide insights into mobility and archaeological settlement patterns. Among the available tools for SDM, Maximum Entropy Modeling (Maxent) is one of the most widely used approaches in archaeological predictive modelling. After controlling for bias and adjustment of several modifiable parameters, the Maxent software provided a potentially effective predictive model to direct future archaeological survey and heritage management projects. The results of this research suggest that watercourses and slope were the key environmental factors influencing the distribution of hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in the southern Pampas region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Atacameños is the property of Estudios Atacamenos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a comparative study of forensic anthropology as the field has developed in Argentina and Uruguay, two Southern Cone countries that have transitioned from dictatorship to democracy in contrasting circumstances. In the context of investigating crimes against humanity, the archaeology of the recent past offers a "third narrative" alongside documentation and testimony, and it has had a great impact as a source of probatory material in judicial contexts in both countries. However, its focus has been almost exclusively on locating and retrieving human remains, whereas we propose a broader integral forensic anthropology that takes account of the wide range of materiality related to crimes against humanity. If forensic anthropology and archaeology are to fulfil this potential, it is fundamental that they remain independent of state power and holistic in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how significant are the ecological and climatic variables to influence the stable isotopes of guanacos. Lama guanicoe bone collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios are assumed as a macro regional average value in west Argentina, mostly as a baseline to model archaeological human diet. If stable isotopes on mammals reflex ecology and climate, we need to know how those variables influence mammals bone stable isotope ratio. This paper analyses the 13C/12C and 15 N/14N ratio on bone collagen on 122 guanacos from Northwest Patagonia during the Holocene. The results confirm significant variation in both isotopes between Monte and Andean-Patagonian specimens. Guanacos from Monte shows higher δ13C and δ15N than those from Andean-Patagonian. Temporal trends indicate variation through Holocene but this variation is not spatially homogeneous. In this paper we suggest that Medieval Climatic Anomaly had stronger effect in Monte desert than in Patagonia desert, generating driest and/or hottest conditions between 1250 and 600 years BP. Those variations need to be considered to reconstruct human diet at least during the second part of the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the archaeological training that archaeology undergraduate students of the University of Buenos Aires performed at a former illegal detention centre from the Argentinian dictatorship, the Espacio para la Memoria y la Promoción de los DDHH ex-Centro Clandestino de Detención Tortura y Exterminio 'Club Atlético' (Memorial Site for the Advancement of Human Rights, Former Illegal Detention, Torture and Extermination Centre 'Athletic Club') between 2016 and 2019. After contextualizing the development of archaeology teaching at the university level in Buenos Aires and the archaeological research at an illegal detention centre from the dictatorship, we present the results of this training to show how approaching archaeological topics in a way that is historically, politically, and physically closer to the students helped them to incorporate fieldwork and lab issues in a committed and meaningful way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Antípoda is the property of Universidad de los Andes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents an analysis of archaeological materials found at the mining sites Minas Paramillos Sur and Mina La Atala, located in the Paramillos de Uspallata and Divisadero Largo's reserve. The goals of this research are to document consumption patterns of the mining proletariat and to make comparative intra- and inter-site comparisons of artifact trends. Within the framework of historical archaeology, we analyze these artifacts in the successive stages of occupation and within sociocultural contexts marked by peripheral industrial capitalism. In order to do this, we take into account three central elements: the environment, sociocultural practices (diets, techniques, and production technologies, personal care, spatial distribution, etc.), and the political-economic context. The results show that the mining populations of northwestern Mendoza in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries worked in precarious conditions and were socially marginalized by a hegemonic discourse of greater economic development in the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Iberoamericana de Ciencia, Tecnologia y Sociedad is the property of Centro de Estudios sobre Ciencia, Desarrollo y Educacion Superior and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Tracksites representing early human occupation are rare in South America. However, they have been reported in association with mammal and bird tracks from two coastal sites in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Both sites are reported in separate papers in this volume. In this paper a brief summary of the better known site is given on the basis of published information and the author's observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Trabajos y Comunicaciones is the property of Universidad Nacional de La Plata and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of HiSTOReLo: Revista de Historia Regional y Local is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Centro Editorial Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, the analysis of a radiocarbon database of the North Coast of Santa Cruz (central Patagonia, Argentina), is presented. Dated archaeological samples were obtained from 56 different types of archaeological sites (open-air -residential sites and burials-, and also rock shelters). The objective of this paper is assessing the continuities and discontinuities in the chronological signal of the area and identifying tendencies along the Holocene. The database currently contains 75 radiocarbon dates falling between ca. 8000 and 300 BP. The radiocarbon data base provides information on the chronological, spatial and contextual variability of the archaeological record of North Coast of Santa Cruz. By means of different analysis of sum of probabilities, we present three different chronological moments of human use of the coast and intermediate zone can be identified. A first moment is represented by early evidence of settlement during Middle Holocene. A second moment corresponds to a hiatus between ca. 5800 and ca. 3900 BP without archaeological evidence. Finally, a third moment is where an increasing of chronological signal occurred, related to greater artifactual variability and an increase in the intensity of human settlement in the Patagonian region. The causes that could have influenced in the discontinuity of the chronological signal of the study area, and the characteristics of the different moments identified are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios y Perspectivas en Turismo is the property of Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Turisticos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Archaeology has been using stable oxygen as an isotopic tracer linked with water consumption for decades, and it has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool to assess paleomobility in bioarchaeology. Central-eastern North Patagonia (Argentina) is an especially appropriate region to apply it since it presents a high density of hunter-gatherer burials, it was a nodal zone criss-crossed by an extensive network of important routes, and it is characterized by a high environmental fragmentation due to the scarcity of fresh water sources. The aim of this paper is to build an empirical stable oxygen isotope baseline of terrestrial surface waters to assess the potentiality of tracing past human movement. We analyzed 46 water samples from 13 locations with permanent sources (rivers, springs, streams), compared it with predictions of precipitation and evaluated it considering seasonal variation, altitude and distance from the coast. Our results show that different post-precipitation processes change the isotopic signal from the sources with respect to the local precipitation, and highlight the relevance of analyzing terrestrial water sources. According to their oxygen isotope values we defined five hydrologic zones: Colorado River, Negro River, Closed Basins and Plains, Eastern and Western Somuncurá Foothills. Their identification shows the potential to address past human movement using stable oxygen water baselines in central-eastern North Patagonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista del Museo de Antropología is the property of Museo de Antropologia - IDACOR and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper explores the ways that the practices adopted by archaeologists to transfer the knowledge generated to society. The analysis is based on desk research technique applied to the reports prepared by three groups of archaeological research, to record production and inform appropriate assessment bodies. In this context, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the process is made visible public communication of archeology and what is their impact on the practice of public archeology in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zaranda de Ideas: Revista de Jóvenes Investigadores en Arqueología is the property of Asociacion de Arqueologos Profesionales de la Republica Argentina (AAPRA) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Arqueología Iberoamericana is the property of Arqueologia Iberoamericana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Human body manipulation and secondary burials are widespread funerary practices in many areas of the world. The archaeology of the Pampas and North-Eastern Patagonia, Argentina, is no exception. In this paper, archaeological case studies from the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Final Late Holocene (ca. 1000–250years BP) are presented and discussed. Secondary burials were recovered that indicated an intentional manipulation of bodies. Evidences of cut marks and the coloring of bone surfaces were recorded. The bundles were composed of individuals of both sexes and diverse age categories. The Pampean region and North-Eastern Patagonia witnessed significant hunter–gatherer population dynamics during the last 1000years BP. Climatic, ecologic, demographic, and economic explanations have been proposed as the background to these changes. In this paper, it is argued that accompanying these factors, as part of a broader socio-cultural scenario, were significant social interaction networks and processes of social complementarity between groups. In this context, it is proposed that the complexity observed in relation to the handling of bodies is part of a worldview in which the body was seen as material culture – as a symbol – that played an important role for the community in group identity maintenance in a cultural context undergoing significant organizational changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Comechingonia: Revista de Arqueología is the property of Comechingonia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Comechingonia: Revista de Arqueología is the property of Comechingonia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Temas de Historia Argentina y Americana is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Over the last decade, we have conducted an actualistic taphonomic research program in the Humid Pampas of Argentina, in order to build a corpus of information about the taphonomic agents and processes characterizing this sub-region. In this paper, we present a summary of our results after ten years of actualistic taphonomic studies in the Pampas. Our program includes both naturalistic and experimental research. Some of the controlled experiments consist of studies with different-aged guanaco bones, including sub-aerial weathering in a controlled environment, and water transport with disarticulated bones. Other studies were conducted at a local zoo, where we offered different types of prey to native small-sized carnivores (canids, felids, mustelids, and mephitids). Our naturalistic observations include the development of taphonomic transects in different environments. Through this method, we were able to study different topics among which some of the more significant are the movement of bones by small-sized carnivores and the distribution of beached Magellanic penguin specimens along the coast. Particular studies included the analyses of the content of dens occupied by small carnivores, the effects of a grassland fire in a vertebrate assemblage, the modifications produced by a local rodent -vizcacha- in the landscape, and the damage generated by pumas in guanaco carcasses. After ten years of systematic research we contributed to identify the potential mixture between modern bones and the archaeological record in relation to the environment; to determine bone preservation biases according to the properties of the record; to recognize agents responsible of bone accumulation and alteration; and to establish diagnostic criteria in order to differentiate cultural from natural patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Intersecciones en Antropología is the property of Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper l want to present a synthesis of the ethnohistorical and archaeological data referring to the Chichas of the Southcentral Andes, offering an integral view of its territorial and temporal development. The main question that guides me throughout this article is the supposed continuity between the ethnohistoric Chichas group, known from written sources of the 16th century. and the archaeological "style" often associated with them and dated preliminary between 600 and 1500 A.D, To present a broader picture of the Chichas culture it is necessary to review both data sets and question this supposed "cultural continuity" which leads to the idea of a territory of Chicha influence which is characterized by its heterogenous relations between the different entities that habitated this area, relations which, far from being static during time and space. represent a diverse panorama of human interrelationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This introductory chapter presents a brief overview of the evolution of Argentine historical archaeology as a scientific discipline, starting from the first pioneering work until its consolidation and future prospects. It also includes a summary of each of the paper presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the mid-nineteenth century, D. F. Sarmiento introduced in Argentine literature the duality of “civilization and barbarism,” assuming that it was, at that time, an inescapable model in the analysis of society. Early in the 1880s, when the “conquest of the desert” came to an end and conflicts between city inhabitants and their urbanistic and “civilizing” urban plannings, vis-à-vis the rural populations that assumedly resisted change, worsened, the model acquired a new meaning. Taking one particular case of analysis, the foundation of the city of La Plata in lands owned by the Estancia Iraola, this paper uses archaeology to explore the limitations and falsehoods of such duality, jointly with the assumption of a simplistic relation of determinism between an environment and a particular human group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Zanja de Alsina" (Alsina´s trench) (1876-1879) was a milestone in the border dynamics with the autonomous indigenous groups of Pampa and Patagonia. Its establishment was the initial action that led to the transformation of the frontier world into a rural one, integrated with global capitalist dynamics. This trench - 3 m wide x 2 m depth - was conceived and projected from the Ministry of War and Marine Affairs established in Buenos Aires). The trench was planned to have an ideal extension of 600 km but only 400 km were made. In this paper, and from an interdisciplinary approach, we will present the first results of the analyses carried out through satellite images, historical cartography and information provided by an archaeological work in order to locate the aforementioned trench as well as the adjacent military settlements (Machado, Alsina and Alvear - located in the northeastern part of the Pampas). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the study of the extractive metallurgical technology that was employed in four colonial mining-metallurgical sites in the high plateau (Puna) of Jujuy, Argentina, dedicated to silver exploitation during the 17th and 18th centuries. In these archaeological sites, we have identified the presence of reverberatory furnaces. We explore the development of this technology and show the results of the study of the furnaces found in the Puna of Jujuy, their functions and performance, based on our fieldwork and on the results of archaeometric analyses of smelting slag and vitrified clay samples. The excellent conservation of most of the furnaces makes them not only a great source of information for the study of colonial metallurgy in this region, but also a contribution to our understanding of mining and extractive metallurgy in the Andes, of the circulation of workers and technical knowledge and of the changes generated by the Spanish conquest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Histórica (02528894) is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista del Museo de Antropología is the property of Museo de Antropologia - IDACOR and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

HMS Swift was a British sloop of war which sank in Patagonia - South Atlantic Ocean - in 1770. The wrecksite was discovered in 1982 by local divers from Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, and this find originated the development of underwater archaeology in the country. The article presents a comprehensive review of the various research strands addressed throughout many years, and it also reflects on the legacy that the site and the project represents for topics other than archaeology, such as heritage management, museology, and cultural industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the preliminary results of the zooarchaeological analysis of Dupuy Rockshelter (La Toma, San Luis Province, Argentina). This rock shelter has evidence of Late Holocene (Last Millennium) human occupation dating from 340 ± 40 BP. Some species, including Lama guanicoe and Ozotoceros bezoarticus , were exploited and their bones were used as raw material to make instruments. The zooarchaeological analysis is complemented by geological and phytoarchaological evidence which indicates a humid environment during the Holocene and a mixed diet that included vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Patagonian archaeological record, the preservation of wooden artefacts is very restricted. Functional analysis of lithic artefacts is a way to get a better understanding about the use and consumption of the wood. Technological and use-wear analyses are applied in order to reconstruct the production processes of the wooden artefacts, from the raw-material supplying to the production of the finished tools. In this paper we present the results of a taxonomical and techno-functional analysis of the traces preserved on the surface of the two wooden artefact retrieved from layer 17 (9390 ± 40 C14 years BP) and layer 6 (5310 ± 110 BP) at the site of Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (province of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina). The interpretation of these two objects is complicated due to the absence of ethnographical references and the lack of similar archaeological findings in Patagonian hunter–gatherers sites. However, through the observation of the use-wear traces it is possible to reconstruct part of the manufacturing process and advance hypothesis on their mode of employment. Due to the distribution of the wears and the mineral-organic residues identified on the surfaces, it is proposed that one of the wooden artefact was probably used for rock-art production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological radiocarbon databases are being increasingly used as a proxy of past demographic trends. In this paper we compile and analyze an extensive database of paleoecological information and 14 C dates from archaeological sites in northwestern Patagonia (Argentina, South America). On this basis, we assess the regional distribution of human populations since the late Pleistocene, and their relation with the evolution of Patagonian climate and landscapes. We explore the spatial and temporal distribution of evidence and discuss sampling biases affecting the record in different ecological contexts. The analysis is set in the frame of three main ecological regions that have implications for human subsistence: Andean forest, grass steppe, and shrub steppe. The intensity of the archaeological signal differs among these regions through time, being stronger and more homogeneous in the grass steppe. In the Andean forest and the shrub steppe the signal is weaker and even absent during short periods of the middle Holocene. We suggest likely sampling biases contributing to these tendencies, since these three regions present variable research cover and intensity. On the other hand, we also suggest that these differences may reflect variations in the intensity of human occupation, in favor of more attractive environments for hunting (i.e., areas where guanaco are generally more abundant). This macro-regional synthesis of the paleoecology and archaeology of northwestern Patagonia provides a platform for developing future oriented research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes and discusses the main results achieved over three decades of research on paleodemographic aspects of Late Holocene hunter-gatherers in Northwestern Santa Cruz (Argentina). Research has been guided by a model of regional settlement that proposes that, as a result of the progressive aridization process recorded in Patagonia during the Late Holocene, human groups would have reduced their residential mobility and concentrated their settlements in low altitude basins with water availability, such as Lake Cardiel and Lake Salitroso. Paleodemographic questions derived from the model relate to population regional continuity and dynamics and were tested using several lines of research at regional and local scales. The assessment of the chronological information and temporal trends of the archaeological record at the regional level allowed for a coarse grain paleodemographic approach, and acted as a mean to support hypotheses related to changes in mobility and land use strategies. Building on this, several lines of bioarchaeological evidence were used to address paleodemographic aspects of the model, including temporal, distributional, and compositional studies of the mortuary record, isotopic, morphometric and DNA analyses and the sex and age structure of the skeletal samples recovered in Lake Salitroso basin. Results point to a biological and cultural population continuity in the region during the Late Holocene. Also, a reduction in residential mobility would have favored a slight population growth of Lake Salitroso populations during the last millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compiles a database of radiocarbon dates of archaeological sites that are currently available for the Pampean region. Based on the probability distribution of radiocarbon dates from this database, major temporal trends are defined, taphonomic and scientific biases are evaluated, and their implications for demography are suggested. Results indicate a continuous archaeological signal between ca. 14,500 and 100 cal BP. During the final Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, the archaeological signal is low in ca. 14,500–12,800 cal BP, and increases to a moderate and continuous signal in ca. 12,800–7500 cal BP. The archaeological signal for the former lapse correspond to the early peopling of the region and is related to the inhabiting and exploitation of key landforms (e.g., rock shelters, river valleys) and critical resources (e.g., lithic raw material, water). The low amount of available dates for the Middle Holocene (ca. 7400–3700 cal BP), and the associated archaeological signal would be due to the combination of various factors such as taphonomic biases, organization of prehistoric populations, and even a possible low population density. The obtained low but continuous signal for this period are discussed in the framework of the proposed models for the human occupation of the region suggesting that a hypothesis about population extinctions and disruptions processes could not be sustained. Finally, during the Late Holocene (from 3700 to 100 cal BP) human occupations are recorded in all the micro-regions. Regardless of biases, this signal is interpreted as an increase in demographic density at a regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Intersecciones en Antropología is the property of Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Paso Otero archaeological locality (Pampean region, Argentina) has provided detailed paleoenvironmental reconstructions and faunal assemblages from the Pleistocene/Holocene transition and Early Holocene. This time span is represented by Paso Otero 5 (c. 10 450–10 200 14C BP; 12 593–11 353 cal. BP) and Paso Otero 4 (c. 9900–7700 14C BP; 10 667–7982 cal. BP). Palaeoenvironmental studies have been carried out on the basis of data derived from geoarchaeological, sedimentary, palynofacies, pollen, diatoms and silica microremains. Unlike other areas of the Pampean region, bone assemblages from Paso Otero include high representation and diversity of taxa. In this paper, paleoenvironmental reconstructions and faunal assemblages from both sites are integrated in order to discuss the consistency of the inferences derived from the two lines of evidence, its contribution to the paleoecological scenarios, and to faunal extinctions. It is suggested that not only hunting pressure but the mere presence of humans was a factor in ecosystem disturbance and is the most parsimonious explanation for the process of extinction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Inca polity deployed a variety of strategies in the establishment of imperial relations with the local communities of the southern provinces. These strategies included the translation of symbols materialized in architectural structures. In this sense, the ceremonial platforms denominated ushnus were spaces with particular significance and high hierarchy. In this paper, we analyze and compare two different platforms located in two sites from the Argentine Northwest, Province of Catamarca. The first archaeological site, El Shincal de Quimivil, has been considered an Inca provincial capital and the second, Hualfín Inca, an important administrative centre. The results show interesting differences between them, such as architectural forms and the archaeological record. These differences reflect not only the way in which the State operated in different territories and the nature of the relationship with local groups, but also the nuances of the historical process involving the Inca establishment in this region of the Argentinean Northwest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents and analyzes the archaeological data recovered in Guasapampa Valley (province of Cordoba, Argentina), which consists mainly of engraved and painted rock art panels. The forested mountain landscape has numerous species of trees and shrubs with edible fruits, but it is distinguished by a scarcity of water resources. During the late Prehispanic period (ca. 1400-400 B.P.) the Guasapampa Valley was occupied seasonally by groups established most of the year in the fertile valleys of the east, in agricultural oases up to 20 and 40 km away. The data recovered are significant because they allow us to understand the role of rock art as an active medium for the establishment, negotiation, and reproduction of certain social ties between producers and observers. In this regard, we assume a comparative perspective that allows us to identify particularities of the occupations of southern and northern sections of the valley, especially the features that define the contexts of production and meaning of the art. The differences identified in each section of the valley refer to contrasts and oppositions in the social practices surrounding and produced by this materiality. Thus, we consider the elements that support its definition on the one hand as a means to convey the significance of particular places among minimal affiliational groups who build an open, shared social landscape in the case of the southern section, and on the other hand as territorial markers in the north related to the existence of limits and restrictions on movement and access to resources, including seasonal water wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]