Puna Of Jujuy Research Articles

The analysis of Eric von Rosen’s archaeological collection (Etnografiska museet, Sweden): the contribution of the Swedish Chaco-Cordillera Expedition to the study of mining and metallurgy in the Puna of Jujuy, Argentina

This paper approaches the Swedish Chaco-Cordillera Expedition to the North of Argentina and South of Bolivia (1901-1902) and it focuses on the archaeological objects recovered. Besides the analysis performed by Eric von Rosen in 1902-1903, no further in-depth studies of the collection had been since carried out, despite its great potential to elucidate different aspects of the Andean and lowlands’ pre-Columbian past. Combining the analysis of the publications made by the members of the expedition and their unpublished personal documentation, as well as the study of the collection itself, this paper aims to offer new data on these findings and show the contribution that these materials, and the interpretations the Swedish researchers formulated about them, made to the understanding of the metallurgy and mining activities developed during the pre-Columbian Late Period (AD 1200-1550) in the Puna of Jujuy, Argentina.

Reverberatory furnaces in the Puna of Jujuy, Argentina, during colonial times (from the end of the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century A.D.)

This paper presents the study of the extractive metallurgical technology that was employed in four colonial mining-metallurgical sites in the high plateau (Puna) of Jujuy, Argentina, dedicated to silver exploitation during the 17th and 18th centuries. In these archaeological sites, we have identified the presence of reverberatory furnaces. We explore the development of this technology and show the results of the study of the furnaces found in the Puna of Jujuy, their functions and performance, based on our fieldwork and on the results of archaeometric analyses of smelting slag and vitrified clay samples. The excellent conservation of most of the furnaces makes them not only a great source of information for the study of colonial metallurgy in this region, but also a contribution to our understanding of mining and extractive metallurgy in the Andes, of the circulation of workers and technical knowledge and of the changes generated by the Spanish conquest.

Diversidad del género Luticola (Bacillariophyceae) en sedimentos holocenicos de la Puna Jujeña, Argentina.

En el marco de las investigaciones paleoambientales que estamos desarrollando en la localidad de Barrancas (23° 18’ 08,7” S; 66° 05’ 15,2” O; 3666 m snm) detectamos, en sedimentos de los últimos 11.000 años, una alta diversidad y frecuencia de representantes del genero Luticola D.G. Mann. Se identificaron 10 especies, de las cuales dos son nuevas (Luticola punae sp. nov. y Luticola juliae sp.nov.). Se describen dos morfotipos de Luticola mollis. Dos de estas especies se citan por primera vez para Argentina y una para Sudamérica.

When maize is not the first choice: advances in paleodietary studies in the Archaeological Site Río Doncellas (Jujuy, Argentina)

In this work we present new values of stable isotopes of carbon (δ13Cco and δ13Cap) and nitrogen (δ15N) measured in a sample of 13 human individuals found in the Río Doncellas Archaeological Site (Late Period or Regional Developments, ca. 1000 AD-1450 AD) located in the Puna of Jujuy, Northwest of Argentina. The skeletal series belong to the collection of Museo E. Casanova, FFyL – UBA and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, being the result of investigations carried out during the decades of 1940 and 1970, respectively. In addition, in this work we present isotopic compositions of food resources (vegetal and fauna) found in the archaeological record as well as gathered in modern farms located in the study area (Abra Pampa, Cochinoca, Jujuy). This information was used for paleodietary inference, allowing us to establish a hierarchy of the resources that were consumed. The results indicate that maize (Zea mays) is less important than other vegetal resources in the diet, which contradicts the expectations generated from the macrobotanical evidence of the site and the cultivated terraces that surround it. On the other hand, camelids seemed to be widely exploited, which is coherent with the current importance of meat production within the region. These results allow us to assert that the growth of cereals did not have a progressive relevance over other resources.

First record of Muellerius capillaris (Nematoda, Protostrongylidae) in northwestern Argentina

Abstract Seven flocks of different composition of goat and/or sheep were evaluated for the presence of Muellerius capillaris (Mueller 1889) in sites of different climatic conditions and under different management practices in northwestern Argentina. The nematode was recovered and identified in four goat flocks and two mixed goat and sheep flocks. Three goat flocks and both mixed goat and sheep flocks were located in Lerma Valley (Salta), with the other goat flock located in Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy). M. capillaris was not detected in the Puna of Jujuy (3500 m a.s.l.). First-stage larvae were recovered from fecal samples using the Baermann technique. Lungs from six goats revealed numerous small pulmonary nodules and areas of emphysema, as well as a small number of M. capillaris adults. This is the first report of M. capillaris in Argentina.

Primera caracterización petrográfica de pastas cerámicas prehispánicas tardías y coloniales de la cuenca sur de la laguna de Pozuelos (Puna de Jujuy, Argentina)

We present here the first results of petrographic studies on ceramic pastes of the southern Pozuelos basin (Puna of Jujuy, Argentina); in the context of a broader research on ceramic manufacture for this part of the puna for late pre-Hispanic and colonial times. These materials were recovered in five excavated structures and a test pit in a rubbish deposit. Thirty fragments were selected to be thin sliced, over a previous classification of pastes in a binocular microscope, which were later analyzed in a petrographic microscope. Attributes of the matrix and of the inclusions were observed with plane and cross polarized light. The percentage of inclusions, matrix and voids was quantified through point counter analysis. Different pastes groups could be identified, through consideration of the presence, absence and the predominance of certain lithologies, that mainly correspond with the groups classified through binocular microscope, even though some groups had to be reconsidered. The thin sections analyzed might be accounting for two pre-Hispanic traditions of ceramic production, already identified in the literature: the “Casabindo style” and the “Yavi style” pottery.

Human occupations during the Middle Holocene and beginning of the Late Holocene in the Pocitos basin, Puna of Salta, Argentina: New research and regional comparison

This article analyzes the human occupations of the Middle Holocene and beginnings of the Late Holocene at Pocitos as compared with other areas of the Salta Puna (Highlands region) such as Pastos Grandes and more generally in a macroregional framework (south-central Andes). Pocitos is a basin presenting an arid environment of salt flat, and with very scant primary productivity. Its location in the Salta Puna, midway between the Puna of Jujuy and that of Catamarca, is suitable for social interaction and cultural communication. From information on surface and stratified contexts from the Middle Holocene and beginnings of the Late Holocene the technological and faunal variability in the area is analyzed. The site serving as a chronological referential base is Abrigo Pozo Cavado.

Tree rings as a surrogate for economic stress – an example from the Puna of Jujuy, Argentina in the 19th century

This paper illustrates the use of tree-ring indices as an indicator of economic stress. In the 19th century the rural economy in the Puna of Jujuy, Northwestern Argentina was based on livestock (llamas and sheep), and was heavily dependant on the availability of pasture and water in this arid landscape. In the absence of traditional indicators of socioeconomic stress, we used tree-ring indices from moisture sensitive trees ( Juglans australis Griseb. and Polylepis tarapacana Phil.) as a proxy for droughts and their related economic stresses. Examining the relationship between population mortality and ring-width indices allows inferences to be drawn about the relative importance of environmental and sociopolitical factors in determining mortality patterns that contributed to the depopulation of this area in the late 19th century.

Hallucinogenic snuff from Northwestern Argentina: Microscopical identification of anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil (fabaceae) in powdered archaeological material

Two mummified bodies have been recovered from the Alero I or La Matanza site (15 km from Cusi-Cusi, Dpto. Santa Catalina, Puna of Jujuy, Argentina) in association with characteristic snuffing paraphernalia. The purpose of this work is to identify the powdered material contained in one of the tubes in order to confirm the hypothesis generated from ethnographical sources, that the rape (snuff) complex was associated with the consumption of Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil, Fabaceae, the cebil, or, if not, which materials were inhaled. Following analysis with a light microscope, petrographic microscope and scanning electron microscope the unknown material was identified as cebil by comparison with reference material and specialized literature.