La variabilidad de un estilo: avances y discusiones en torno a la cerámica Vaquerías del Noroeste argentino

PEREYRA DOMINGORENA L.; DE FEO M. E.; BUGLIANI M.F.

Crónicas materiales precolombinas. Arqueología de los primeros poblados del Noroeste Argentino

Sociedad Argentina de Antropología

Lugar: Ciudad de Buenos Aires; Año: 2015; p. 549 - 573

Vaquerías is a distinctive polychrome formative pottery style with broadgeographic distribution in Northwestern Argentina (NWA) but meagerly represented at particular sites. Its chronology goes from the fourth century B.C.until the end of the first millennium D.C.The occurrence of this style is regularly mentioned in the literature of the period, but few authors have advanced detailed characterization of its distinctiveness in each area. This paper contributes to its characterization by reviewing theinformation and interpretations reached to date and providing new evidencefrom two sectors of NWA: Quebrada del Toro (Salta) and southern Cajon Valley (Catamarca). Pottery materials recovered from these areas were stylistically and technologically analyzed through the definition of morphological andiconographic attributes and the application of petrographic techniques. While Vaquerías-style pottery usually occurs in domestic contexts at village sites in the areas considered here, it has also been found in burials in Quebrada del Toro. Although both assemblages share attributes that allow defining Vaqueríasas a stylistic and morphological unity, there is also considerable variability infabric composition. There are also differences in the way in which this style behaves in each sector relative to local pottery styles. This information is discussed in relation to questions about technological choices made by ancient potters,as well as wider circulation and social interaction issues in the Northwestern Argentina during the Formative.