20245601(en)/6 - Fire Plants: Contributions of Indigenous Knowledge to Understanding Anthracological Records in the Puna
FIRE PLANTS: CONTRIBUTIONS OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE TO UNDERSTANDING ANTHRACOLOGICAL RECORDS IN THE PUNA
LAS PLANTAS DEL FUEGO. APORTES DE LOS SABERES NATIVOS PARA LA COMPRENSIÓN DE LOS REGISTROS ANTRACOLÓGICOS EN LA PUNA
Maia del Rosario Rodriguez, María del Pilar Babot y María Gabriela Aguirre
Ethnoarchaeological studies carried out since the 1980s in various sectors of the Antofagasta de la Sierra basin, Puna de Catamarca, have documented a series of native plants and provided insights into the perception and traditional knowledge of the area's flora, contributing to the understanding of the region's past and present. The study of fire has conventionally been associated with plant species currently recognized as woody. However, based on a review of ethnoarchaeological records from the Central-Southern Andes, we identified a broader set of what we term “fire plants”, referring to taxa that come into contact with fires for a variety of reasons, and can therefore integrate the recovered plant records into archaeological combustion structures. Our aim is to review the plant categorizations and native uses that form part of lit fires or that come into contact with them for diverse purposes. We also analyze the recorded variations in these categories to highlight the spectrum of practices surrounding fire and reduce interpretative biases that solely consider the firewood category. Furthermore, in examining these categories and the associated phytonymy, we explore points of convergence and divergence in the native knowledge recorded in the Atacama region on both Western and Eastern sides of the cordillera..
