No abstract

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The objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between agricultural soils, land and cult behaviour. We consider that soils, as they were modified by humans, contain key information for the reconstruction of past behaviour linked to super-structural beliefs, not necessarily visible through the conventional material record. In this sense, the manipulation of lands and soils in the Andean region represents the unification of ritual activities and beliefs focused on the Pachamama (Mother Earth). We present the results of a study to examine soil management at a prehispanic agricultural settlement in Northwest Argentina, together with other evidence related to the agricultural symbolic universe, which reveals evidence of land categorization and land use preferences.

Our study area is from an early agricultural archaeological site named “El Tolar” (1st to 9th century AD), located in Tafí Valley (Tucumán, northwest Argentina). The objective was to identify geochemical signatures generated by the sustained agrarian use of soils. Chemical and pedological studies were made in different archaeological contexts. Physical and chemical features, such as bulk density, pH, organic and inorganic phosphorus, and available copper, manganese and iron, were taken into account. The results suggested that a buried paleosol identified was contemporary with the occupation of the site. It also showed characteristics clearly related to pre-Hispanic agrarian production. The concentrations of organic phosphorus and iron in agricultural soils probably reflect the use of fertilizers. The application of geoscience techniques allowed us to obtain important information on their behaviour and socio-economic development. This paper constitutes the first pedogeochemical approach to the study of Argentinean pre-Hispanic agricultural soils.

El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar la caracterización cultural y funcional de las estructuras arqueológicas prehispánicas formativas de la localidad El Potrerillo (Tafí del valle-Tucumán-Argentina), a través del análisis geomorfológico del paisaje y pedogeoquímico del suelo en el cual se asentaron. Se fotointerpretó el área registrando la morfodinámica y las estructuras arqueológicas. Se excavaron siete pozos de sondeo considerando distintas situaciones contextuales, se describieron los horizontes del suelo y sus componentes y se tomaron muestras que luego fueron analizadas en laboratorio, teniendo en cuenta las concentraciones de fósforo orgánico, porcentaje de materia orgánica, macronutrientes (calcio y fósforo disponibles) y micronutrientes (hierro, cobre y manganeso disponibles). Los resultados obtenidos permitieron reconocer dos tipos de estructuras arqueológicas formativas: residenciales, evidenciadas en los restos materiales (diseños de plantas, fragmentos de cerámica, restos de carbón y cenizas) y agrícolas, por presencia de estructuras arqueológicas de terracería. La ausencia del horizonte superficial 2A y de incrementos en la concentración de fósforo orgánico informan sobre la falta de prácticas conservacionistas en la actividad agrícola prehispánica del sector.