Archaeology & Etnohistory: constructing a research problem (Abaucán, Tinogasta, Catamarca)

Abstract

This interdisciplinay paper combines archaeological and ethnohistorical information with questions and results about the native people located in the north sector of the Abaucan basin, west of Tinogasta area-Catamarca province. The information provided by both disciplines was reread and new evidence, consisting of an unpublished documentary source of early seventeenth century and new archaeological and ecological contexts reflecting processes of regional environmental instability, was integrated. Problematizing the construction of social space during the Inca and Spanish conquests is our general objective; we also discuss about the impact of both conquering events upon the population located west of Tinogasta. Additionally we argue about the geographical location of the main prehispanic settlements with continuity in colonial times     continuity in colonial times