Social dynamics and space structuring in Las Pailas (North Calcha-quí valley, Salta) during the Late Period

Abstract

One way to explore past social organization is through the study of architecture and the way the built environment ordered both space and people´s daily social relations. Since 2006, we have studied different late-period (AD 1000 – 1450) archaeological sites in the Northern Calchaquí Valley (Cachi, Salta) based on a fundamental theoretical statement: people are immersed in a spatial and material order that actively produces and reproduces social life and their actions and interactions. From this theoretical perspective, we have claimed that daily life in the typical agglomerate sites of the Late Period was shaped by a built environment and a material order that generated communal integration, favored fluid interactions and knowledge among neighbors, and promoted social and material homogeneity. This paper analyses a particular case study: Las Pailas (SSalCac 18), in order to understand the nature of the social dynamic that the spatiality of this conglomerate site produced and reproduced.