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A MAJOR PREHISPANIC COPPER PRODUCTION CENTER IDENTIFIED AT COLLAHUASI, SOUTHERN TARAPACÁ ALTIPLANO (CHILE)

UN GRAN CENTRO PREHISPÁNICO DE PRODUCCIÓN DE COBRE IDENTIFICADO EN COLLAHUASI, ALTIPLANO SUR DE TARAPACÁ (CHILE)

Valentina Figueroa, Benoît Mille, Diego Salazar, José Berenguer, Andrew Menzies, Pía Sapiains, Ariadna Cifuentes and Delphine Joly

This work presents the results of a study of mining-metallurgical production in late pre-Hispanic times in the Collahuasi Mining District (Northern Chile), specifically examining the technology employed and changes in the scale of production. We focus on recent results obtained in a study of 50 pyrometallurgical furnaces identified at the Ujina 8 and Ujina 10 archaeological sites and their relation to Collahuasi 37, the metallurgical camp located in very close vicinity. This makes Ujina 8, Ujina 10, and Collahuasi 37 the largest pre-Hispanic copper production center in Northern Chile. Metallurgical and mineral evidences recovered from these sites were subjected to archaeometric analyses in order to determine the nature of the smelted ore, the complexity of the metallurgical processes used, and the composition of the copper metal produced.

The technology and organization of pre-Hispanic copper production observed at Collahuasi will be discussed in the context of pre-Inca and Inca mining-metallurgical systems already identified in northern Chile, especially in regard to the smelting technique and scale of production.

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K’OA, ANDEAN ENTITY OF A PLANT AND OTHER BODIES. AN INTERPRETATIVE POSSIBILITY FOR FUNERARY OFFERINGS IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ARICA

K’OA, ENTIDAD ANDINA DE UNA PLANTA Y OTROS CUERPOS. UNA POSIBILIDAD INTERPRETATIVA PARA OFRENDAS FUNERARIAS EN LA ARQUEOLOGÍA DE ARICA

Magdalena García, Francisca Gili, Javier Echeverría, Eliana Belmonte and Valentina Figueroa

We present a reflection on a set of amulets made of k’oa (Diplostephium cinereum Cuatrec.) stems found as funerary offerings in the prehispanic cemeteries of Arica. We analyze them from a transdisciplinary perspective with an emphasis on Aymara ethnography and the ontology behind their terminology and cultural use. This approach has allowed us to verify that the termk’oa refers to different bodies or elements treated independently in the literature, including a group of smoker plants from the puna; the smoke emanating when burning them; the Pan-Andean myth of the winged feline; and even Illapa and San Santiago. We postulate the existence of a connection between all of them where k’oa is proposed as a complex and polyvalent entity, with a ceremonial and sacred connotation, of great chronological depth, associated with rains, fertility and transformation. Finally, the presence on the coast of Arica of these prehispanic artifacts made with materials from the puna on the coast of Arica is interpreted as an expression of the cultural and ideological integration of the ecological and social zones that existed in the South Central Andes before the arrival of the Inka.

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SOCIAL RELATIONS TO THE SOUTH OF COLLASUYU. A STUDY OF FUNERARY POTTERY CONTEXTS OF THE LATE PERIOD (1400-1536 AD) IN THE MAIPO-MAPOCHO BASIN

INTERACCIÓN SOCIAL AL SUR DEL COLLASUYU. ALFARERÍA FUNERARIA DEL PERIODO TARDÍO (1400-1536 DC) EN LA CUENCA MAIPO-MAPOCHO

Cristian Dávila, Constanza Cortés, Andrea Martínez, Juan Hermosilla, Nicole Fuenzalida and Daniel Pavlovic

Although there are several studies focusing on late sites in Central Chile, there is no consensus about how the interaction between local Aconcagua settlements and the Inka took place in this frontier of the Collasuyu. Through local ceramic variability, different levels of interaction have been proposed; however, there is a lack of systematic comparative studies that allow us to explore this issue. This work aims to contribute in this regard by analyzing ceramic vessels of seventeen funerary sites in the Maipo-Mapocho basin, identifying the emergence of a new local ceramic type and the presence of vessels of Inka style that seem to be locally manufactured. Throughout the basin, between the Chacabuco, Maipo and Mapocho areas, different behaviors are identified, which could account for the varied levels of interaction between the local populations and the Tawantinsuyu.

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TECHNOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN PAMPAS DEER ANTLERS FROM THE CENTER OF THE HUMID PAMPAS, ARGENTINA

EVIDENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS EN ASTAS DE VENADO DE LAS PAMPAS EN EL CENTRO DE LA PAMPA HÚMEDA, ARGENTINA

María Clara Álvarez

Antler remains of Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) are frequently recorded in the sites located in the center of the Argentinian Humid Pampas. These materials, however, are usually scarce and, in general, they are only collaterally mentioned in the archaeological literature. This article presents the analysis of antler remains from two archaeological sites -Empalme Querandíes 1 and Calera-. Results indicate that these elements were used with technological purposes. However, some parts of the antler (the tines) are not the more diagnostic ones to identify this behavior. This is because a large part of the modifications that are classified as “of cultural origin” also occur in the animal’s life. The bases, on the other hand, can present evidence of abrasion and flake negatives, which could be good indicators of the use of these elements as tools. In this study, several specimens with modifications, which could have been used as soft hammers, were identified. Finally, the technique that was used in the obtaining of blanks would have been débitage by segmentation.

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A PHENOMENOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE “ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECT”

UNA DESCRIPCIÓN FENOMENOLÓGICA DEL “OBJETO ARQUEOLÓGICO”

José María Vaquer

In this paper I present a phenomenological description of the “archaeological object” from the perspective of Husserl ́s phenomenology. For this philosopher, there are no differences between the ways things appear to our experience and this being. Therefore, phenomenological description implies an ontological categorization of the “archaeological object” which in many cases remains implicit and slips into the interpretations we make of the past. From this methodology, I suggest that the “archaeological object” takes its sense from three horizons (the “lifeworld” of researchers, the “academic world” to which we belong and temporality), and, therefore, it’s “giving itself” is always relative. This relativity implies the impossibility of totalization and closure, and constitutes a first step in recognizing our theoretical assumptions and performed a Critical Archaeology that dialogues with alternative interpretations of the past.

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