Abstract
This article examines the agrarian landscape in one part of the southern Andes (Quebrada of Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina). The region possesses extensive and well-preserved archaeological remains of agricultural systems, which stretch back to pre-Hispanic times. In this study, we employ an interdisciplinary approach in our analysis of the components that structure the agrarian landscape, especially those historical processes that intervened in its formation. The creation of a cartographic base, built from remote sensing and fieldwork data, allowed for the identification of four principal components of the landscape, each of which correspond to distinct phases or periods that mark the region’s history. Our study shows that, in contrast to what is observed in many other rural areas, the successive productive dynamics that developed in the area did not result in the destruction of previous productive structures. Rather, the agrarian landscape in the study area presents a multi-temporal agglutinating combination or composition, which transcends historical discontinuities in the productive matrix. This is owing to the partial reutilisation of previous structures in each period; however, religious and cultural factors play an important role. The agrarian landscape we studied is not only a passive result of human activity, but also a force influencing the productive and lifestyle decisions of the peasant populations that live there today. Our research amplifies the understanding of agrarian landscapes in the Andes and shows how past temporalities are articulated with the present through a dialectical process.
Highlights
Agrarian landscapes are considered a result of the interaction between human activity and natural environments over time
Hoskins [3], and remains relevant today, as does the consideration of these spaces as palimpsests [4], in which new texts erase previous ones. This is undoubtedly a common aspect seen in European agrarian landscapes and those found in many other rural areas around the world
The maps were produced in the open access program QGIS with the WGS84/UTM19S coordinate system, and using the data provided by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM, NASA) to generate the digital elevation model (DEM)
Summary
Agrarian landscapes are considered a result of the interaction between human activity and natural environments over time This suggests another general characteristic in their formation: they involve very complex interactions that transcend productive and ecological frameworks, and include social, political, and historical factors. The inhabitants of the region engage with the agrarian landscape in dialectical manner, in which they mutually construct and reconstruct one another This approach necessarily implies expanding the conceptual and analytical category of landscape, which is no longer defined solely in terms of the observation of an object (physical space), and acquires an experiential and territorial significance. All these ways of conceiving and experiencing the physical environment connect the concepts of landscape and territory, as both refer to the social appropriation of a space by a collective self-identified with it and to the relational structure that is built from this appropriation [14]
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