Mario Gabriel Maldonado

Cronología y procesos de formación en niveles de ocupación prehispánicos de selvas occidentales meridionales (Horco Molle, Tucumán)

Formation processes and chronology of archaeological occupations of Horco Molle (Tucuman) were analyzed, this area is located in the south part of Northwestern Argentina. Pits and excavations, stratigraphic descriptions, pH measurements, trace of alteration analyses in ceramic assemblages, typological classifications, and a radiocarbon dating were made. Levels of occupation were located in the distal part of an alluvial fan, lying over a paleosoil, covered by alluvial deposits (with recent soil development) or gravels. The variable acidity of the soil (among 5,38 y 6,47) explains in part the near absence of organic archaeological materials. The collapse of an architectural structure made of mud above a surface of occupation preserved an archaeological context with de facto refuses. The trampling intervened in the fracture of pottery sherds belonging to the analyzed contexts. The variety of ceramic types present in the occupations is comparable to which characterizes the Chuscha (200-400 AD) and Choromoro (400-700 AD) phases, in coincidence with a dating of 1639 ± 57 BP. The results obtained highlight the adequacy of geoarchaeological perspective for the discovery and research of occupational surfaces in forested areas.