Ofrecemos hipótesis explicativas respecto a las políticas sexuales que, eventualmente, se implementaron en la configuración de la comunidad formativa de la Pampa del Tamarugal, siendo nuestro objetivo central contribuir al estudio arqueológico de la reproducción social. Las colecciones bioantropológicas del Cementerio Tarapacá 40 fueron sometidas a un relevamiento osteológico orientado al conocimiento de su estructura sexual y etaria. Se recuperó un importante número de referencias contextuales y se elaboró un análisis exploratorio de la variación en la estructura sexo-edad de algunos cementerios de la región. Los resultados muestran un cementerio que presenta todos los rangos etarios y una distribución sexual 1:1. A escala regional, se observó una distribución dicotómica entre cementerios arcaicos y formativos, en función de la proporción de mujeres adultas y personas no-adultas. Se propone que entre la sociedad arcaica tardía y la formativa, las relaciones sociales de reproducción y la división sexual del trabajo habrían experimentado transformaciones radicales, cuyo impacto más directo pudo ser el control social de la sexualidad femenina a través de la instauración de un régimen sociopolítico basado en el parentesco.Palabras claves: Reproducción Social, política sexual, estructura sexo-edad, periodo Formativo, feminismo materialista.In this paper we propose explanatory hypotheses about the sexual politics that were from time to time implemented in the configuration of the Pampa del Tamarugal formative community, with the aim to contribute to the archaeological study of social reproduction. The bioanthropological collections of the Tarapacá 40 Cemetery underwent an osteological survey, designed to identify their sexual and age structure. A significant number of contextual references were recovered, and an exploratory analysis of the variation in the sex-age structure of some cemeteries in the region was carried out. The results show a cemetery with all age ranges and a 1:1 sex ratio. On a regional scale, a dichotomous distribution was observed between archaic and formative cemeteries, based on the ratio between adult women and non-adults. We propose that social relations of reproduction and sexual division of labor between the late archaic and the formative society underwent radical transformations, the most direct impact of which could be the social control of female sexuality through the establishment of a kinship-based socio-political regime.

Presentamos una síntesis de los principios teóricos que sostienen una Arqueología de la Reproducción Social, y mostramos de manera general su aplicación a un caso de estudio. En la primera parte, hacemos un recorrido histórico-conceptual del lugar de la arqueología en el marco del pensamiento contractualista de la modernidad y realizamos una definición del marco teórico y político en el que se inscribe la Teoría de la Reproducción Social en Ciencias Sociales. En la segunda parte, ofrecemos una crítica al androcentrismo en la investigación del Norte Árido de Chile y mostramos las principales evidencias que sostienen un modelo teórico acerca de las estrategias de la Reproducción Social en la transición Arcaico-Formativa de la Pampa del Tamarugal a partir de las evidencias bioarqueológicas del Cementerio Tarapacá 40 (Región de Tarapacá, Chile).

This study explores the age at death structure, skeletal lesions, and artificial cranial modification (ACM) on 35 nonadults until their 38 months of life recovered from the Tarapacá 40 cemetery, Northern Chile. Age estimations were based primarily on long bones dimensions, whereas skeletal lesions and ACM were recognized on dry bones and in mummified and bundled bodies. Measurements and observations in these later were performed by radiographies. Results show a distribution of ages at death clustered in three groups: around birth and second month of life, between 9 and 12 months of life, and between 18 and 26 months of life. The presence of physiological disruption indicators such as porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, criba femoris, periostitis and Harris lines, and ACM is described. Then, we discussed the observed age at death structure and the skeletal lesions as reflecting weaning process, and the links between the nature and timing of this practice with social organization of care labour, control over female sexuality, and socio‐economic transformations occurring during the Formative Period in Northern Chile.

The study of the stone sculpture production process is subject to the preservation and visibility of tool traces and surface finishes. In this article it is proposed that the parameters developed in conservation for the diagnosis of surface stone alteration processes can be used as descriptors to isolate the attributes of postproduction conditions and their influence on variation in the appearance of stonework traces. It shows how the application to a case study served to determine the alterations that contribute to the deterioration of carving traces, the selection of the best-preserved areas for recording, and the retrieval of information for increasing the sample number. The results of fracturing patterns caused by a stress sector in the sculpture body are shown. Certain sets of alterations occurred together, either affecting the integrity of the carving groove or increasing the texturing finish of the polished surface.