Rock art in colonial context. Preliminary analyses of the Alero Estancia Guayascate site, north of Córdoba (Argentina)

Abstract

This paper attempts to contextualize pre-Hispanic rock art in the north of Córdoba, while analyzing its presence within the framework of a colonial institution (encomienda). In this sense, the study of the Alero Estancia Guayascate archaeological site may reveal aspects related to the indigenous-colonial situation since it involves groups of different ethnic origins: the indigenous residents of Guayascate, the indigenous residents of Guayascate, the indigenous populations introduced as a result of the encomienda and the merced de tierras and the Spaniards in charge of them. Rock art is understood as a marker of identity shared by indigenous groups in the north of Córdoba. Therefore, foreign groups interrupting both the spacesas well as daily life routines in Guayascate could imply a loss of the original meaning in the execution of the rock art, due to the fact that there were no further interventions on the site.