Arqueología

Bioarchaeology of interethnic violence. A model to approach the indigenous attack on Fort San Jose (Valdes Peninsula, Chubut, Argentina)

2025-05-26T18:36:43+00:00

The available documentary sources show that in 1810 an indigenous attack put an end to the Spanish occupations in Fuerte San José and Puesto de la Fuente (1779-1810) in Peninsula Valdés, Chubut. However, historical information about this episode is scarce and ambiguous, which is why our project has recently developed a specific line of research to discuss this incident within the trajectory of interethnic relations in these settlements. In this context, we present here a model with various possible scenarios to materially characterize the attack based on: a) historical documentation referring to the characteristics and material conditions of the indigenous attack of 1810 on the settlements of Peninsula Valdés; b) broader ethnohistorical sources and studies on material aspects of regional interethnic conflict in the period studied; c) general bioarchaeological information on situations of interpersonal violence and interethnic conflict in different contexts and their material consequences in terms of the bioarchaeological record, including taphonomic aspects linked to the preservation of human remains; d) osteological, archaeological and taphonomic data available and specific to the Fuerte San José context. We then derive bioarchaeological expectations (contextual and osteological) from the model, that will allow us to develop specific strategies in the identification and study of the bioarchaeological record of the malón and differentiate it from other events of mortality and burial of human remains in the settlement. We aim to contribute to the growing field of bioarchaeology of violence, within the framework of ongoing research into historical bioarchaeology in the colonial settlements of Peninsula Valdés.

Villa Guasayán Cementerio (Santiago del Estero province, Argentina). Superficial archaeological site or denudation of the land? New contributions to understanding site formation and occupation

2025-07-21T12:44:13+00:00

Villa Guasayán Cementerio (VGC) is an open-air archaeological site located in the homonymous locality, near to the Western slope of the Guasayán hills (Santiago del Estero Province). In previous works carried out in 2009, lithic, pottery (scarce), and archaeofaunistic remains were recovered on the surface and, through morpho-typological analysis of projectile points; the archaeological context was associated with an industry from the late stages of the Preceramic period. In 2017 and 2018, surveys and surface collections were carried out, 11 m² were excavated and aerial photographs were taken with a drone. On this occasion, the chronology and formation site processes are discussed in light of the two new radiocarbon dates and the analysis of pottery remains found in stratigraphy (Sunchitúyoj style), novelty lithic artifacts and the predominance of smaller size faunal resources. The sub-surface nature of the site, the degradation of the soil by meteoric agents and transit of domestic animals (pigs, goats and sheep) made the interpretation of the site difficult. However, despite these post-depositional processes, we consider that VGC corresponds to a residential site of the late Pottery stage seasonally inhabited during summer, from where its inhabitants provided themselves with lithic, pottery and faunal resources, possibly at different distances. Finally, domestic tasks were carried out at VGC that involved the use of pottery (mainly of the Sunchitúyoj style), reduction of cores using the bipolar technique, manufacture and/or reactivation of unifacial tools, spinning tasks, cleaning of skins and consumption of animals, with preponderance of those with smaller size.

Archaeological research in the Casucha El Juncalillo (CEJ) - El Juncalillo House. Results of the first interventions at the site and preliminary analysis of historical ceramics (Río Blanco-International Pathway, Los Andes, Chile)

2025-06-09T13:27:01+00:00

This article presents the preliminary results of the morphological and functional analysis of the historical ceramic record, in particular refined earthenware and glazed ceramics, recovered in the archaeological interventions (systematic surface survey and excavation) of the El Juncalillo site during 2017. The information obtained, together with research work on historical and historiographic documentary information, allowed us to study its occupation. It also allowed us to advance in the explanation of the formation processes of a site characterized by a wide surface archaeological distribution and low stratigraphic power. The chronological interval of the occupation covers from the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. The ceramics analyzed would correspond to domestic vessels, related to feeding and playing activities, in coherence with the functionality attributed to the house (mountain refuge). A regional origin of glazed ceramics is postulated, possibly related to the production of the workshops in Mendoza during the Colonial and Republican periods. The refined earthenware has variable decorative patterns and European origin. An English and Dutch origin of some pieces has been verified from the attributes of decorations and trademarks. The analysis corroborated both the widespread occupation of the property between the end of the eighteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, as well as the recurrent use of the site. The presence of ceramics that possess different technologies and chronologies confirms the importance of this mountain refuge system, regarding transit along the international route, beyond the late Colonial period

A preliminary study of distributional archaeology in the Melipeuco region, Araucanía Andina, Chile

2025-06-16T13:45:40+00:00

This paper presents the preliminary results of systematic sampling in the Molulco microregion, Melipeuco, Araucania Andina, Chile. It is an interesting area to discuss lifeways, exploitation and circulation of raw materials in a forest environment. We provide initial information at different scales by correlating the distribution and characteristics of the surface lithic record with expectations from previous works. A total of 680.000 mts2 with a total of 5.869 artefacts in 144 survey points were surveyed. Using the techno-typological and raw material registry carried out in the field, and the subsequent geostatistical analysis through GIS, we present the first tendencies on spatial patterns related to lithic technology. The predominant presence of obsidian, and the identification of supply areas of this raw material allow us to discuss, from a distributional perspective, the circulation and procurement of obsidian from Sollipulli volcano. We expect that the results obtained allow us to discuss the internodal role that this space could have had in a wider network of human interaction from different paths between both Anden slopes.

Comprehensive Approach for the Analysis of the Organization and Use of Space in the Mound Complex 'Isla de los Talitas' (Rocha, Uruguay)

2025-06-23T15:02:49+00:00

This article focuses on the set of earth mounds at Isla de los Talitas, in the India Muerta region of Uruguay. The site presents 10 structures of different sizes and morphologies, which show a constructive and residential recurrence between 3813 ± 26 and 999 ± 26 years BP. A technological analysis of the lithic assemblage and a distributional analysis of the recovered materials were carried out, considering the formation and organization processes in different spaces and structures of the settlement. The mound builder groups developed a mainly expeditive lithic technology, based on the local availability of raw materials, an aspect correlated with groups with a certain degree of sedentism. The presence of tools, cores, and reactivation flakes, as well as ceramic remains, reflect the realization of domestic activities at the site. Possibly, many of the analyzed remains resulted from activities that took place in different areas and that were incorporated as construction materials in some mounds, together with other materials such as anthill soil. In some interfacial surfaces, domestic activities also occurred, as evidenced by the presence of tools and faunal remains exhibiting distinct groupings, along with indications of imprints from perishable materials. The work carried out shows, on long-term scales, the recurrence in the choice of the same places to inhabit and build, as well as the differential use of space at a synchronic and diachronic level.

Dinner for two. The interpretation of armadillos (Chlamyphoridae) archaeological remains from north-central Patagonia (Argentina)

2025-06-30T11:54:59+00:00

Demographic growth is frequently linked to the increase in the taxonomic representation of small-sized species in late Holocene archaeological contexts from Pampa and Patagonia. During the last 3,500 years human presence has increased in northwest of Chubut and southwest of Río Negro, although small vertebrates represented a marginal contribution to the diet, that was centered on huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) and guanaco (Lama guanicoe). To specify the contribution of a mammal family not yet evaluated in detail, we analyze the taphonomic trajectories of armadillos (Xenarthra, Cingulata, Chlamyphoridae) remains from 13 archaeological contexts located in the forest and the steppe using ethological, ethnohistorical, historical, experimental and naturalistic information as frames of references. The results show that, in a forest context and in four steppe contexts, despite the relatively low taxonomic representation, armadillos were consumed and, in one case, used as artifacts. It was also established that predation by carnivorous mammals very important in several steppe contexts, even in those with evidence of human exploitation.

New radiocarbon dates of human remains from central Argentina and their contribution to the discussion of the regional peopling

2025-07-07T14:01:14+00:00

In central Argentina, the earliest evidence of human presence, recorded between ca. 13,000 and 10,600 cal BP, is scarce, while after 9600 cal BP the archaeological signal becomes more intense. Within this later period are the human remains recovered from the localities of Jesús María and Ascochinga (Córdoba Province, Argentina), which are the focus of this study. In Jesús María, J. Delprato excavated three spatially close burials in 1951, while in Ascochinga, he excavated a burial site in 1959. The former were analysed by Alfredo Castellanos and all the human remains were preserved in the Castellanos collection, housed in the Florentino and Carlos Ameghino Museum of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. This paper presents new chronological information of two of these individuals, recently dated by AMS to ca. 8500 and 7809 cal BP, respectively, placing them in the middle Holocene. Isotopic information was also obtained providing a first approximation to the diet of these individuals. The implications of these dates are analysed to discuss the peopling of central Argentina, considering all the available dates for the region. It is concluded that the dating of these human remains to the middle Holocene reinforces the archaeological evidence corresponding to this period, following two millennia with low archaeological signal in the region after the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, supporting the proposals about a new colonization process of central Argentina.

First absolute chronology data for the archeology of the Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park (Santa Cruz, Argentina)

2025-07-14T13:22:13+00:00

Systematic archaeological investigations in the Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park have provided new insights into the hunter-gatherer populations that once inhabited the area. Initial research efforts focused on local-scale surface surveys, which were later followed by attempts to deepen our understanding of the chronology of human occupation within the protected area. To this end, the 2019 fieldwork prioritized stratigraphic excavations in order to collect samples for radiocarbon analysis. Three archaeological sites were tested, located in both high and low sectors of the Laguna Grande basin. Among the excavated materials, two large mammal bone fragments, probably from guanaco (Lama guanicoe), were selected for dating: a rib fragment from the Parapeto Meseta de La Horqueta site and a fragment of a diaphysis with a helical fracture from the De La Ostia site. The radiocarbon dates place human occupation in the Late Holocene, before the Hispanic contact. These results are significant as they represent the first absolute chronology study for the Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park. Moreover, one of the obtained dates constitutes the earliest evidence for parapet structures in the surveyed region of southern Patagonia.

List of recent Doctoral Dissertations completed at the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UBA

2025-07-21T15:03:10+00:00

Arqueología del Paisaje y ocupación del espacio en valles fluviales del sur bonaerense (siglo XIX)

2025-07-21T16:32:30+00:00