20185002(en)/10 - Monumentality and Landscape in the Production of Borders: Exploring National/ist Landscapes in the Northernmost Region of Chile

MONUMENTALITY AND LANDSCAPE IN THE PRODUCTION OF BORDERS: EXPLORING NATIONAL/IST LANDSCAPES IN THE NORTHERNMOST REGION OF CHILE

MONUMENTALIDAD Y PAISAJE EN LA PRODUCCIÓN DE FRONTERAS: EXPLORANDO PAISAJES NACIONALES/ISTAS DEL EXTREMO NORTE DE CHILE

Dante Angelo

In this article, I archaeologically scrutinize the construction of modern frontiers. By considering a small section of the current Chilean northernmost border and a patch of the Atacama Desert territory, I interrogate the relationship between landscape and monumentality, used in the production of national borders. In order to accomplish my goal, I recourse to a conceptual and methodological framework, exploring and inquiring about some of the principles of landscape archaeology, atheoretical trend that gained relevance in the archaeology of the Andes in the last decades. Thus, by highlighting the role that these marginal settings had in the configuration of a national territory, I expect to contribute to the study of modernity and how it builds itself from the outskirts of the nation.