Rock art, time and space in La Damiana (Quebrada de Incahuasi, Salta, Argentina)

Abstract

In this paper, we present the results of a spatial analysis of rock art from La Damiana (Quebrada de Incahuasi, Salta). We studied 163 engraved blocks, part of the Section 1 of the site, in order to define changes and continuities in the pastoralist landscapes from the Formative (700 B.C. – A.D. 1000) to the Late period (A.D. 1000 – 1430). We were interested in defining how later representations were spatially organized in relation to preexisting ones, and how the earlier engravings participated in the spatial arrangements of later pastoralist landscapes. The methodological approach supported by the use of GIS tools, sought to define the rock art’s spatial structure during each period and at different scales: a “block” scale that considered distributional and visual aspects for each chronological subset, and an “intra-block” scale that focused on reused surfaces, representations, and their spatial relationships. We observed a recurrence in the occupation of spaces and in the form in which they had been modified through rock art, with greater intensity during the Late period. Moreover, we suggest that at this moment new themes and modes of representation arose, even while some preexisting ones were still in use.