Persistent Places, Rock Art and Social Practices: The Case of the Hill of Oyola (Northwestern Argentina)

ETCHEBERRY, EUGENIA AHETS; GHECO, LUCAS; LANDINO, MATÍAS; GASTALDI MARCOS ROMÁN; QUESADA, MARCOS N.; FERNANDO, MARTE

Darwin

Congreso; The Tenth World Archaeological Congress; 2025

Worldwide, diachronic approaches to rock art stillrepresent an extended theoretical andmethodological challenge. The concept of persistentplaces, namely, places that were -and in some casesstill are- repeatedly painted, engraved and usedduring long-term occupations of a region, can be ahelpful analytical tool to explore the histories of somearchaeological sites. However, it can also hide a greatdiversity of social practices that co-constituted theseplaces as persistent through time.The hill of Oyola (northwestern Argentina) can beinterpreted as a persistent place, since the motifsrecorded in its caves suggest a long historical processof painting. Despite this continuity in the selection ofthe hill to make rock art, analysis of the spatialstructuration of the painted caves, plus stratigraphicexcavations, indicate that the ritual practicesperformed there may have changed through time.This study seeks to understand the continuities,discontinuities and relationships among the historiesof use and painting that co-constituted Oyola as apersistent place. Therefore, we employ an approachthat combines spatial analysis, stratigraphicexcavations, and both macro and archaeometricexaminations of the rock art. This local case offersbroader theoretical and methodological reflectionson rock art production, ritual practices and persistentplaces