Analysis of burnt building structures of the Ambato Valley (Catamarca, Argentina)

MARCONETTO, MARÍA BERNARDA

Charcoal Analysis. Methodological Approaches, Palaeoecological Results and Wood Uses

BAR International Series 1063

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2002; p. 267 - 272

  This work is a part of an archeological project being developed at the Ambato Valley, in the Southern Andean Area of the Argentine Northwest. Said research is targeted to reconstruct from a multidisciplinarian point of view, the social, economical an symbolic processes that led to the formation of a complex society, known in Argentine archeology as the Aguada Culture (600-1000 AD). In this reference frame, this work intends to reunite elements of analysis derived from the study of the management of forest resources, leaving from the belief that, as the social structures became more complex, they influenced the way resources are exploited. In this article, we will deal with the problem of species selection according to their use, and how the anatomical properties of different woods were taken advantage when building the settlements of Piedras Blancas and Iglesia de los Indios.