Federico Wynveldt

Palo Blanco: a village in Late and Inka landscapes in Hualfín Valley (Catamarca, Argentina)

ABSTRACT In this article we analyze archaeological data from Palo Blanco, located in the center of the Hualfín Valley (Dept. of Belén, Catamarca, Argentina) to discuss how a relational concept of landscape provides significant tools to reconstruct links between a local village and different landscapes configured during Late and Inka times (c. 1400–1500 ad). Also, we present how this approach allows us to develop an alternative scheme to change interpretations of the past in the region. Based on the analysis of spatial, social and temporal dimensions, we analyze archaeological evidence focusing on placement, building, flow of bodies, spatial perception, relationships between people and material culture, and chronology. Finally, we consider Palo Blanco as a typical local defensive village during late pre-Inka times, which probably changed its role during Inka conquest.

Defensibility Analysis with Geographical Information Systems in a Pukara in the Hualfín Valley, Argentina

Cerro Colorado is an archaeological village site located in La Cienaga de Abajo, in the South East of the Hualfin Valley (Belen, Catamarca, Argentina), at the top of a 150 m hill. It can be defined as a pukara—a fortified site—considering not only its location, but also its defensive walls, and the naturally inaccessible character of certain areas. Most of the radiocarbon data dates the site’s occupation to the first half of the fifteenth century, that is, around the beginning of the Inka conquest, although some data points to earlier settlement, and other to later periods. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in the valley in terms of the number of structures distributed in five topographically separated sectors. One of these ‘neighborhoods’ is the Central Sector, where singular archaeological contexts have been excavated in a special architectural complex, different from the typical local pattern. In view of these characteristics, the goals of this chapter are first to analyze the differences in the intrasite space and its relationship with the immediate environment, taking into account accessibility and visibility as elements to define defensibility; and second, to evaluate the results in relation to three fundamental problems for the Late and Inka Periods in Northwestern Argentina: intergroup conflicts, chronology, and social inequality.

Identificación de variedades de maíz y prácticas agrícolas en el valle de Hualfín (Catamarca, Argentina)

Este articulo se centra en las excavaciones realizadas en Cerro Colorado de La Cienaga (valle de Hualfin, Catamarca, Argentina) y en la descripcion de las evidencias de practicas agricolas asociadas a el. Se trata de un sitio de altura, que comprende mas de 100 recintos y que ha sido adjudicado a momentos tardios de la historia prehispanica, siglos XIII a XVI. Las excavaciones se realizaron en el Recinto 35 y se obtuvieron restos de maices correspondientes a espigas enteras con y sin granos, termoalteradas, que han posibilitado –por primera vez en el valle– la identificacion de ocho variedades que incluyen maices duros, semiduros y dulces. El contexto de hallazgo, que incluye pozos circulares con sedimento fino, vasijas finas y ordinarias y restos arqueofaunisticos y liticos, nos lleva a postular que en este espacio se procesaron comidas y bebidas y se manufacturaron artefactos liticos.