20225404(en)/7 - The Hidden Side of Para Yacu Locality, Southern Santiago del Estero, Argentina. A Semiotic Approach for the Interpretation of Rock Paintings
THE HIDDEN SIDE OF PARA YACU LOCALITY, SOUTHERN SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA. A SEMIOTIC APPROACH FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF ROCK PAINTINGS
EL LADO OCULTO DE LA LOCALIDAD PARA YACU, SUR DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA. UN ENFOQUE SEMIÓTICO PARA LA INTERPRETACIÓN DE LAS PINTURAS RUPESTRES
Natalia Carden y Diego C. Leon
This paper introduces information about the rock paintings of Para Yacu 1 rock shelter, south of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Motifs are analyzed using a semiotic approach based on the identification, recognition, and interpretation of material visual images. Results show a high diversity of images, some of which include zoomorphic and anthropomorphic attributes. This art is not easy to visualize or interpret due to its poor preservation in the dim light of the rock shelter, also because it is not naturalistic, compositions are juxtaposed and overlapping, and the high diversity is monochromatic. We propose its agency to have consisted in triggering and/or accompanying ecstatic experiences, either individual or shared intersubjectively among few people. The inferred form of ritual is similar to those identified in several sites from Sierra El Alto-Ancasti.
