Is it possible to conserve a Salamanca? Reflections about archaeology, conservation and local uses of heritage from a cave with rock art in Catamarca

Abstract

This paper focuses on a cave with rock art located in the province of Catamarca, northwestern Argentina. However this rock shelter is more than an archaeological site; it is also a powerful salamanca, an event/place of acquisition of extraordinary gifts through diabolical pacts. Faced with this paradigmatic study case, we ask ourselves: is it possible to conserve a salamanca? Based on this question and our particular experience visiting the cave, this paper aims to discuss and reflect about the scopes, tensions and disputes around notions of heritage and conservation, but also on the affects produce in fieldworks. How should we act, as archaeologists, in relation with the legal implications of protecting the "archaeological site"? Is it possible to reconcile such conservation/restoration actions with the current uses of the cave? Is the shelter only an "archaeological site"? In the course of this essay, we present some problematic points where conservation, archaeology and local uses of heritage meet.