Construction, transformation, and reproduction of peasant landscapes: a multi-scale contribution

Abstract

The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and other analytical tools for the study of landscapes has been on the increase over the last years. GIS allows us to characterize the different ways by which human populations related to the environment and the characteristics therein. Concomitantly, there are certain social practices, such as herding and agriculture, which tend to determine the use of the space by human populations, relegating other social practices that also constitute long-term relations between people and landscapes, which are also important for daily social reproduction. In this article, we reflect and assess the means by which we can visualize, study and question the other multiple social practices that existed in these societies such as hunting, hardwood and lithic raw material procurement, and its interaction with the environment and the relationships thus established. In doing so, we present our research from the Antofalla Valley (Department of Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca). Here we visualize these multiple practices, their historical depth, and assess the multiple scales of analysis needed for their study.