A lot of archaeological studies have discussed the adaptations, the subsistence of Hunter-fisher-... more A lot of archaeological studies have discussed the adaptations, the subsistence of Hunter-fisher-gatherer societies (HFG-S) and the relevance of the strategies for the management of resources. Some researchers have considered the demographic history and social relationships just as a dependent variable, an epiphenomenon and a consequence of a precarious subsistence system. However the most classical and accepted definition of Economy refers as the relationship between resources and their distribution (which implies the number of producers and consumers and their organization).
Adopting a reductionist meaning of “material” it has been frequently considered that social relationships are not visible and thus that there is no possibility to have archaeological access to social organization. It has been argued that the relationships between people established in order to achieve their own social production and reproduction can actually not be derived from the archaeological record. Consequently, it is thought that social relationships should not be an object of study of archaeology.
This implies that for a lot of scholars the study of prehistoric social organization remains in a speculative field that is fed consciously or unconsciously by inferences derived from analogies. Some biased or particular observations are transferred uncritically into the past, presenting them as explanations of this same past. As a consequence, a static and fossilized view of modern HFG-S is build. Furthermore, given the inevitable archaeological reliance on analogy, it is important to ask whether conceptions of hunter-gatherers based on contemporary societies restrict our comprehension about past diversity and about how these HFG-S have changed over the long term.
A huge corpus of middle range theory and experimental archaeology has been built for the interpretation of the archaeological record to deduce some technical features and procedures of production of the subsistence. The problem arises if we admit that social organization are not synchronized with subsistence and therefore cannot be derived automatically from the evidences of the management of resources, moreover if we hypothesize that some changes in HFG-S are indeed the consequence of the mismatch between strategies for acquiring the subsistence and those strategies of social organization for reproducing the society.
Thus archaeology has to focus on a deep methodological research, and not just empirical investigation on environment and past technical features, to be able to reach a complete knowledge of the development of any society and to formulate hypothesis to explain both changes and stability.
This re-statement of our discipline must be done on the basis of a reflection of the theoretical bases from which we depart. The methods have to be calibrated; that is, to set up, evaluate and cleanse archaeological methodology, verifying at the same time explicative models or general laws of HFG-S mode of production. Contrasting the results of the archaeological method with the ethnographic records on a historical case of study would allow formulating an appropriate methodological approach to the integrated socio-economic study of HFG-S. Our research team has been doing this “Experimental ethnoarchaeology”, defined in a broad sense as an interface for methodological development of Archaeology, since 1986 studying the HFG-S of America’s southern tip. The results obtained by the contrast between the ethnographic image and the archaeological record on different types of sites (settlements, sepultures and ceremonial contexts) of the same societies, allowed to gain insights and some relevant conclusions about the essential features of the mode of production and reproduction and the social relations of HFG-S materialized in the archaeological record.
Presentation at CHAGS13, session "Living Livelihoods"., 2022
Classic ethnographic studies describe the existence of social norms regulating the use of the dwe... more Classic ethnographic studies describe the existence of social norms regulating the use of the dwelling space, mainly based on sex and age, in a number of Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer (HFG) societies. However, with few exceptions, discussion about spatial organization and sex/age-division of space has relied on inferences drawn from a small number of HFG cases, especially since the mid-twentieth century. While data about dwelling architecture is ubiquitous in cross-cultural collections and databases, daily spatial behaviour has been rather overlooked. This study applies a quantitative cross-cultural approach to study social norms regulating the use of space in 70 HFG societies worldwide. Ethnographic data was reviewed and coded into variables measuring type and intensity of socio-sexual organization of the dwelling space during working, eating and sleeping time; the existence of functional or ideological age/sex-segregated areas; as well as the architectural or physical dimension of spatial arrangement (floor layout and area, fireplace and entrance arrangement…). Then, significance of the variables and association between them were evaluated statistically. Finally, spatial variables were correlated with ecological, economic, and socio-political data already available in cross-cultural databases in order to test and discuss hypothesis about HFG spatial organization, particularly in relation to sexual division of labour, norms regulating social interaction and sexual relations, degree of mobility or social complexity. The results reveal remarkable diversity in HFG social strategies, but also point out significant patterns, suggesting that spatiality was a key mechanism to reinforce HFG social norms.
Pese a algunas propuestas a partir de manifestaciones ideológicas o especulaciones con el arte
mo... more Pese a algunas propuestas a partir de manifestaciones ideológicas o especulaciones con el arte mobiliar, tradicionalmente las investigaciones sobre sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras prehistóricas se han centrado en la seriación y el desarrollo de tecnocomplejos, o bien en el análisis de la explotación de recursos y las estrategias de producción. La organización social y las normas sociales, consideradas como “lo ideológico”, en oposición a “lo material”, se han considerado como elementos invisibles o muy difíciles, por no decir imposibles, de conocer desde el registro arqueológico y, por tanto, se han tendido a ignorar o a extrapolar directamente en base a analogías etnográficas. Así, por ejemplo, la asunción muy generalizada de que se trata de sociedades igualitarias o de la existencia de liderazgos efímeros. Sin embargo, consideramos que los principales límites a nuestro conocimiento del pasado, y en concreto a las normas sociales que regulan el comportamiento de una sociedad (p.ej. la división sexual del trabajo), se encuentran en la metodología y no en el propio registro arqueológico. Las normas sociales no son intangibles ni inmateriales. La amplia información etnográfica existente muestra cómo en las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras estos acontecimientos y patrones se materializan en ítems ideológicos, en el registro funerario, o en la estructuración de espacios sociales diferentes. La información etnográfica acumulada durante décadas de investigación en conjunción con la etnoarqueología experimental puede ser una vía para reconstruir estos patrones y relaciones sociales mediante: 1) la excavación de yacimientos de sociedades etnográficas extintas; 2) la experimentación y validación de hipótesis mediante técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial y simulación social; 3) la generación de modelos; y 4) la destilación de indicadores arqueológicos. En esta comunicación queremos presentar los resultados de esta experimentación, y las propuestas que estamos trabajando en la actualidad.
Social regulation of reproduction is the key feature for the continuity of a hunter-gatherer soci... more Social regulation of reproduction is the key feature for the continuity of a hunter-gatherer society. The relations of reproduction are the determinants in their strategies for their sustainability.
This thesis formulated in the 90es allowed us to explain an observable universal practice in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies: sexual division of labor accompanied the discrimination and devaluation of the social value of women.
To verify this hypothesis we need to examine these asymmetrical relationships between women and men (that always favored men) and trace them back to its origins and causes.
Recurrent ethnographic record shows that funerary contexts reflect the relationships in the society of the living. Therefore, after discussing the meanings of ritual and simbols, we will argue that it is possible to approach the study these social asymmetries from analysis of (the objective value of) remains and funerary contexts.
We will propose a first approach to the study of this type of social asymmetry and eventually the traces of its origin through the study of changes and significant recurrences in Paleolithic and Mesolithic funerary contexts and by the research of other ideological features in the archaeological record.
In this communication we vindicate the centrality of the management of reproduction in Hunter-fis... more In this communication we vindicate the centrality of the management of reproduction in Hunter-fisher-gatherer societies and how this crucial management could generate a social organization in which women were subject to a structural violence. Indeed, we contend that there are two types of violence: circumstantial violence, that is, acts of brutality committed by specific individuals resulting in physical injury, and structural violence, the less obtrusive form exercised socially by the “group”. In fact, it is this concept of structural violence that has characterised social systems based on dissymmetrical relations between the sexes, which, in every single case, have favoured men.
Ethnography describes most Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer (H-F-G) as egalitarian societies in which sexua... more Ethnography describes most Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer (H-F-G) as egalitarian societies in which sexual division of labour is a consequence of the biological features of women and men, or a technical strategy based on the complementarity of both sexes. However, a non-biased, complete analysis of the ethnographic information shows that actually sexual division of labour and social inequality between males and females are two main basic universal features in H-F-G societies. Despite their universal appearance, the variability and intensity of the different cases demonstrates that these relationships are clearly a social option. In order to find out when and why all started we have to improve archaeological methodology and search archaeological indicators of H-F-G social organization. 20 years of ethnoarchaeological experimentation in Tierra del Fuego has been an encouraging first step in this research.
Our intention as editors of this volume was not to provide a >conclusion>, in the sense of ... more Our intention as editors of this volume was not to provide a >conclusion>, in the sense of >closing>, but rather to open up the debate on violence -a concept which, though expressed in a single word, covers so many possible types of behaviour that it is not always very helpful or illuminating. By saying this we are not uncovering anything new, but merely reflecting once again that umbrella terms or concepts are of no use to archaeologists.Peer Reviewe
International audienceThis work presents a synthetic approach to the analysis of combustion struc... more International audienceThis work presents a synthetic approach to the analysis of combustion structures and their archaeological remains, seeking to understand site-formation processes and spatial organization of maritime Hunter-Gatherers on the northern coast of the Beagle Channel in Tierra del Fuego, as well as past human behavior concerning direct and indirect production and exploitation of thermal energy.Therefore, the communication will address and integrate different methodological aspects developed for the study of combustion structures in these particular environmental and anthropic contexts: First, the analysis of ethno-archaeological data concerning the use of fire. Second, the study of the functionality and duration of combustion structures by means of an experimental analytical approach. Third, the study of soil transformation processes by thermal action, including experimentation, modelling, soil analysis (soil composition at multiple scales) and micromorphology. Fourth,...
En el presente trabajo de tesis doctoral se aborda la problematica sobre el acceso arqueologico a... more En el presente trabajo de tesis doctoral se aborda la problematica sobre el acceso arqueologico a las normas sociales, en particular en el contexto de sociedades cazadoras- pescadoras-recolectoras. La Arqueologia tradicional, bebiendo de los postulados historico- culturales, asumio que este acceso estaria limitado, de entrada, por la inmaterialidad de lo social. Por su parte, el optimismo cientifico de la New Archaeology y, mas en general, los planteamientos procesuales exploraron la posibilidad, aunque partieron de una vision igualmente restringida de lo material. Para solventar este deficit, se planteo y desarrollo una nueva disciplina, denominada Etnoarqueologia. La reaccion a un enfasis funcionalista y a la extraccion mecanica de inferencias sobre las relaciones sociales de las sociedades prehistoricas (y, como consecuencia, sobre los grupos contemporaneos estudiados por estos trabajos etnoarqueologicos) llego en la decada de 1980 de la mano de las diferentes propuestas que se h...
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas de poblamiento y movilidad propuestas desde la etnografía o la arqueología para otras áreas del archipiélago fuego-patagónico, los resultados permiten discutir la reocupación sucesiva de puntos estratégicos de la isla, particularmente en primavera-verano, cuando la encrucijada de caminos y recursos que representa el mar interior de Última Esperanza presentaba alicientes significativos para las comunidades canoeras. Palabras clave: cazadores-recolectores-pescadores, Patagonia, América del Sur, Holoceno tardío, estrategia de movilidad, ambientes costeros Characterizing hunter-fisher-gatherer mobility strategies in island and coastal environments is key to understanding past human-environment interaction. Seafaring communities inhabiting the inland sea of Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile) maintained a subsistence strategy focused on hunting, gathering, and fishing until the beginning of the twentieth century. In this work we present the new archaeological findings from Diego Portales island (Almirante Montt Gulf) and discuss subsistence and mobility strategies in the context of the regional archaeological record. The systematic survey of the northeast tip of the island allowed us to record eight archaeological shell midden sites, on both the east and west coasts. Site location was determined by geotopographic factors. The excavation of two of the sites, Bahía Easter 1 and Bahía Easter 2, has provided evidence of occupation dating to the Final Late Holocene and covering a time span of almost 2,000 years. These two sites are associated with hunter-fisher-gatherer seafaring peoples who repeatedly frequented the area. Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical studies suggest a subsistence strategy based on the exploitation of at least a dozen different species of marine and terrestrial resources. Among the latter, the archaeological remains of huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) are particularly abundant. These mid-sized deer were probably hunted at the Patagonian coast and transported to the island. The location of the island, in a transit area between the external channels and the inland sea, and between the northern archipelagos and the continent, together with resource abundance and diversity, suggest that Diego Portales was a privileged area for seafaring occupation, especially in spring and summer.
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas ...
A lot of archaeological studies have discussed the adaptations, the subsistence of Hunter-fisher-... more A lot of archaeological studies have discussed the adaptations, the subsistence of Hunter-fisher-gatherer societies (HFG-S) and the relevance of the strategies for the management of resources. Some researchers have considered the demographic history and social relationships just as a dependent variable, an epiphenomenon and a consequence of a precarious subsistence system. However the most classical and accepted definition of Economy refers as the relationship between resources and their distribution (which implies the number of producers and consumers and their organization).
Adopting a reductionist meaning of “material” it has been frequently considered that social relationships are not visible and thus that there is no possibility to have archaeological access to social organization. It has been argued that the relationships between people established in order to achieve their own social production and reproduction can actually not be derived from the archaeological record. Consequently, it is thought that social relationships should not be an object of study of archaeology.
This implies that for a lot of scholars the study of prehistoric social organization remains in a speculative field that is fed consciously or unconsciously by inferences derived from analogies. Some biased or particular observations are transferred uncritically into the past, presenting them as explanations of this same past. As a consequence, a static and fossilized view of modern HFG-S is build. Furthermore, given the inevitable archaeological reliance on analogy, it is important to ask whether conceptions of hunter-gatherers based on contemporary societies restrict our comprehension about past diversity and about how these HFG-S have changed over the long term.
A huge corpus of middle range theory and experimental archaeology has been built for the interpretation of the archaeological record to deduce some technical features and procedures of production of the subsistence. The problem arises if we admit that social organization are not synchronized with subsistence and therefore cannot be derived automatically from the evidences of the management of resources, moreover if we hypothesize that some changes in HFG-S are indeed the consequence of the mismatch between strategies for acquiring the subsistence and those strategies of social organization for reproducing the society.
Thus archaeology has to focus on a deep methodological research, and not just empirical investigation on environment and past technical features, to be able to reach a complete knowledge of the development of any society and to formulate hypothesis to explain both changes and stability.
This re-statement of our discipline must be done on the basis of a reflection of the theoretical bases from which we depart. The methods have to be calibrated; that is, to set up, evaluate and cleanse archaeological methodology, verifying at the same time explicative models or general laws of HFG-S mode of production. Contrasting the results of the archaeological method with the ethnographic records on a historical case of study would allow formulating an appropriate methodological approach to the integrated socio-economic study of HFG-S. Our research team has been doing this “Experimental ethnoarchaeology”, defined in a broad sense as an interface for methodological development of Archaeology, since 1986 studying the HFG-S of America’s southern tip. The results obtained by the contrast between the ethnographic image and the archaeological record on different types of sites (settlements, sepultures and ceremonial contexts) of the same societies, allowed to gain insights and some relevant conclusions about the essential features of the mode of production and reproduction and the social relations of HFG-S materialized in the archaeological record.
Presentation at CHAGS13, session "Living Livelihoods"., 2022
Classic ethnographic studies describe the existence of social norms regulating the use of the dwe... more Classic ethnographic studies describe the existence of social norms regulating the use of the dwelling space, mainly based on sex and age, in a number of Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer (HFG) societies. However, with few exceptions, discussion about spatial organization and sex/age-division of space has relied on inferences drawn from a small number of HFG cases, especially since the mid-twentieth century. While data about dwelling architecture is ubiquitous in cross-cultural collections and databases, daily spatial behaviour has been rather overlooked. This study applies a quantitative cross-cultural approach to study social norms regulating the use of space in 70 HFG societies worldwide. Ethnographic data was reviewed and coded into variables measuring type and intensity of socio-sexual organization of the dwelling space during working, eating and sleeping time; the existence of functional or ideological age/sex-segregated areas; as well as the architectural or physical dimension of spatial arrangement (floor layout and area, fireplace and entrance arrangement…). Then, significance of the variables and association between them were evaluated statistically. Finally, spatial variables were correlated with ecological, economic, and socio-political data already available in cross-cultural databases in order to test and discuss hypothesis about HFG spatial organization, particularly in relation to sexual division of labour, norms regulating social interaction and sexual relations, degree of mobility or social complexity. The results reveal remarkable diversity in HFG social strategies, but also point out significant patterns, suggesting that spatiality was a key mechanism to reinforce HFG social norms.
Pese a algunas propuestas a partir de manifestaciones ideológicas o especulaciones con el arte
mo... more Pese a algunas propuestas a partir de manifestaciones ideológicas o especulaciones con el arte mobiliar, tradicionalmente las investigaciones sobre sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras prehistóricas se han centrado en la seriación y el desarrollo de tecnocomplejos, o bien en el análisis de la explotación de recursos y las estrategias de producción. La organización social y las normas sociales, consideradas como “lo ideológico”, en oposición a “lo material”, se han considerado como elementos invisibles o muy difíciles, por no decir imposibles, de conocer desde el registro arqueológico y, por tanto, se han tendido a ignorar o a extrapolar directamente en base a analogías etnográficas. Así, por ejemplo, la asunción muy generalizada de que se trata de sociedades igualitarias o de la existencia de liderazgos efímeros. Sin embargo, consideramos que los principales límites a nuestro conocimiento del pasado, y en concreto a las normas sociales que regulan el comportamiento de una sociedad (p.ej. la división sexual del trabajo), se encuentran en la metodología y no en el propio registro arqueológico. Las normas sociales no son intangibles ni inmateriales. La amplia información etnográfica existente muestra cómo en las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras estos acontecimientos y patrones se materializan en ítems ideológicos, en el registro funerario, o en la estructuración de espacios sociales diferentes. La información etnográfica acumulada durante décadas de investigación en conjunción con la etnoarqueología experimental puede ser una vía para reconstruir estos patrones y relaciones sociales mediante: 1) la excavación de yacimientos de sociedades etnográficas extintas; 2) la experimentación y validación de hipótesis mediante técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial y simulación social; 3) la generación de modelos; y 4) la destilación de indicadores arqueológicos. En esta comunicación queremos presentar los resultados de esta experimentación, y las propuestas que estamos trabajando en la actualidad.
Social regulation of reproduction is the key feature for the continuity of a hunter-gatherer soci... more Social regulation of reproduction is the key feature for the continuity of a hunter-gatherer society. The relations of reproduction are the determinants in their strategies for their sustainability.
This thesis formulated in the 90es allowed us to explain an observable universal practice in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies: sexual division of labor accompanied the discrimination and devaluation of the social value of women.
To verify this hypothesis we need to examine these asymmetrical relationships between women and men (that always favored men) and trace them back to its origins and causes.
Recurrent ethnographic record shows that funerary contexts reflect the relationships in the society of the living. Therefore, after discussing the meanings of ritual and simbols, we will argue that it is possible to approach the study these social asymmetries from analysis of (the objective value of) remains and funerary contexts.
We will propose a first approach to the study of this type of social asymmetry and eventually the traces of its origin through the study of changes and significant recurrences in Paleolithic and Mesolithic funerary contexts and by the research of other ideological features in the archaeological record.
In this communication we vindicate the centrality of the management of reproduction in Hunter-fis... more In this communication we vindicate the centrality of the management of reproduction in Hunter-fisher-gatherer societies and how this crucial management could generate a social organization in which women were subject to a structural violence. Indeed, we contend that there are two types of violence: circumstantial violence, that is, acts of brutality committed by specific individuals resulting in physical injury, and structural violence, the less obtrusive form exercised socially by the “group”. In fact, it is this concept of structural violence that has characterised social systems based on dissymmetrical relations between the sexes, which, in every single case, have favoured men.
Ethnography describes most Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer (H-F-G) as egalitarian societies in which sexua... more Ethnography describes most Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer (H-F-G) as egalitarian societies in which sexual division of labour is a consequence of the biological features of women and men, or a technical strategy based on the complementarity of both sexes. However, a non-biased, complete analysis of the ethnographic information shows that actually sexual division of labour and social inequality between males and females are two main basic universal features in H-F-G societies. Despite their universal appearance, the variability and intensity of the different cases demonstrates that these relationships are clearly a social option. In order to find out when and why all started we have to improve archaeological methodology and search archaeological indicators of H-F-G social organization. 20 years of ethnoarchaeological experimentation in Tierra del Fuego has been an encouraging first step in this research.
Our intention as editors of this volume was not to provide a >conclusion>, in the sense of ... more Our intention as editors of this volume was not to provide a >conclusion>, in the sense of >closing>, but rather to open up the debate on violence -a concept which, though expressed in a single word, covers so many possible types of behaviour that it is not always very helpful or illuminating. By saying this we are not uncovering anything new, but merely reflecting once again that umbrella terms or concepts are of no use to archaeologists.Peer Reviewe
International audienceThis work presents a synthetic approach to the analysis of combustion struc... more International audienceThis work presents a synthetic approach to the analysis of combustion structures and their archaeological remains, seeking to understand site-formation processes and spatial organization of maritime Hunter-Gatherers on the northern coast of the Beagle Channel in Tierra del Fuego, as well as past human behavior concerning direct and indirect production and exploitation of thermal energy.Therefore, the communication will address and integrate different methodological aspects developed for the study of combustion structures in these particular environmental and anthropic contexts: First, the analysis of ethno-archaeological data concerning the use of fire. Second, the study of the functionality and duration of combustion structures by means of an experimental analytical approach. Third, the study of soil transformation processes by thermal action, including experimentation, modelling, soil analysis (soil composition at multiple scales) and micromorphology. Fourth,...
En el presente trabajo de tesis doctoral se aborda la problematica sobre el acceso arqueologico a... more En el presente trabajo de tesis doctoral se aborda la problematica sobre el acceso arqueologico a las normas sociales, en particular en el contexto de sociedades cazadoras- pescadoras-recolectoras. La Arqueologia tradicional, bebiendo de los postulados historico- culturales, asumio que este acceso estaria limitado, de entrada, por la inmaterialidad de lo social. Por su parte, el optimismo cientifico de la New Archaeology y, mas en general, los planteamientos procesuales exploraron la posibilidad, aunque partieron de una vision igualmente restringida de lo material. Para solventar este deficit, se planteo y desarrollo una nueva disciplina, denominada Etnoarqueologia. La reaccion a un enfasis funcionalista y a la extraccion mecanica de inferencias sobre las relaciones sociales de las sociedades prehistoricas (y, como consecuencia, sobre los grupos contemporaneos estudiados por estos trabajos etnoarqueologicos) llego en la decada de 1980 de la mano de las diferentes propuestas que se h...
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas de poblamiento y movilidad propuestas desde la etnografía o la arqueología para otras áreas del archipiélago fuego-patagónico, los resultados permiten discutir la reocupación sucesiva de puntos estratégicos de la isla, particularmente en primavera-verano, cuando la encrucijada de caminos y recursos que representa el mar interior de Última Esperanza presentaba alicientes significativos para las comunidades canoeras. Palabras clave: cazadores-recolectores-pescadores, Patagonia, América del Sur, Holoceno tardío, estrategia de movilidad, ambientes costeros Characterizing hunter-fisher-gatherer mobility strategies in island and coastal environments is key to understanding past human-environment interaction. Seafaring communities inhabiting the inland sea of Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile) maintained a subsistence strategy focused on hunting, gathering, and fishing until the beginning of the twentieth century. In this work we present the new archaeological findings from Diego Portales island (Almirante Montt Gulf) and discuss subsistence and mobility strategies in the context of the regional archaeological record. The systematic survey of the northeast tip of the island allowed us to record eight archaeological shell midden sites, on both the east and west coasts. Site location was determined by geotopographic factors. The excavation of two of the sites, Bahía Easter 1 and Bahía Easter 2, has provided evidence of occupation dating to the Final Late Holocene and covering a time span of almost 2,000 years. These two sites are associated with hunter-fisher-gatherer seafaring peoples who repeatedly frequented the area. Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical studies suggest a subsistence strategy based on the exploitation of at least a dozen different species of marine and terrestrial resources. Among the latter, the archaeological remains of huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) are particularly abundant. These mid-sized deer were probably hunted at the Patagonian coast and transported to the island. The location of the island, in a transit area between the external channels and the inland sea, and between the northern archipelagos and the continent, together with resource abundance and diversity, suggest that Diego Portales was a privileged area for seafaring occupation, especially in spring and summer.
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas ...
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas de poblamiento y movilidad propuestas desde la etnografía o la arqueología para otras áreas del archipiélago fuego-patagónico, los resultados permiten discutir la reocupación sucesiva de puntos estratégicos de la isla, particularmente en primavera-verano, cuando la encrucijada de caminos y recursos que representa el mar interior de Última Esperanza presentaba alicientes significativos para las comunidades canoeras.
espanolAunque los pueblos indigenas de Patagonia Austral han sido objeto del interes de explorado... more espanolAunque los pueblos indigenas de Patagonia Austral han sido objeto del interes de exploradores e investigadores desde el primer encuentro, existen aspectos de la cultura que permanecen desconocidos o escasamente documentados. Es el caso de la navegacion indigena en el extremo austral del mundo, atributo que definio una forma de adaptacion humana al entorno y permeo aspectos simbolicos de las tradiciones nomadas marinas. El presente articulo ofrece una revision etnohistorica acerca de las canoas de corteza en el area sur de Tierra del Fuego y presenta evidencias del primer registro conocido de una canoa de corteza en un contexto arqueologico, descubierta en 1935 por Junius Bird. EnglishAlthough the indigenous peoples of Southern Patagonia have been subject to the interest of explorers and researchers since the first encounter, there are some aspects of their culture that remain unknown or poorly documented. This is the case of indigenous navigation in the southernmost part of t...
The long-standing debate over the origins of violence has resurfaced over the last two decades. T... more The long-standing debate over the origins of violence has resurfaced over the last two decades. There has been a proliferation of studies on violence, from both cross-cultural and ethnographic and prehistoric perspectives, based on a reading of archaeological and bioarchaeological records in a variety of territories and chronologies. The vast body of osteoarchaeological and architectural evidence reflects the presence of interpersonal violence among the first farmer groups throughout Europe, and, even earlier, between hunter-gatherer societies of the Mesolithic.
The studies in Beyond War present the necessity of rethinking the concept of “violence” in archaeology. This overcomes the old conception that limits violence to its most evident expressions in war and intra- or extra-group conflict, opening up the debate on violence, which allows the advancement of knowledge of the social life and organization of prehistoric societies. Determining archaeological indicators to identify violent practices and to analyse their origin and causes is fundamental here, and represents the only way to find out when and under what historical conditions prehistoric societies began to organize themselves by exercising structural violence.
The application of GIS technologies to solve archaeological questions related to spatial issues h... more The application of GIS technologies to solve archaeological questions related to spatial issues has nearly become an imperative during last decades. This has implied an exponential applicability of such methodologies in the field of archaeology, both in macro and micro scale. However, despite their implementation, mostly through geostatistical tools, deeper interpretations of the archaeological georeferenced record, regarding social strategies – productive and consumption activities – have been poorly carried out. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that combining different sources of data – such as ethnographical literature, ethnoarchaeological observations, use-wear analysis or soil chemical analysis – could be useful to overcome this limitation. The aim of this session is to build a reflexive discussion regarding the different theoretical and methodological approaches on this topic. Specific focus will be devoted to compare the meaning and analytical connotations of the terminologies and models used in archaeological case studies of different chronologies and social forms of organization. Therefore, we strongly welcome theoretical and practical contributions in geospatial analysis and predictive modelling that have included social theory.
En el presente trabajo de tesis doctoral se aborda la problemática sobre el acceso arqueológico a... more En el presente trabajo de tesis doctoral se aborda la problemática sobre el acceso arqueológico a las normas sociales, en particular en el contexto de sociedades cazadoras-pescadoras-recolectoras. La Arqueología tradicional, bebiendo de los postulados histórico-culturales, asumió que este acceso estaría limitado, de entrada, por la inmaterialidad de lo social. Por su parte, el optimismo científico de la New Archaeology y, más en general, los planteamientos procesuales exploraron la posibilidad, aunque partieron de una visión igualmente restringida de lo material. Para solventar este déficit, se planteó y desarrolló una nueva disciplina, denominada Etnoarqueología. La reacción a un énfasis funcionalista y a la extracción mecánica de inferencias sobre las relaciones sociales de las sociedades prehistóricas (y, como consecuencia, sobre los grupos contemporáneos estudiados por estos trabajos etnoarqueológicos) llegó en la década de 1980 de la mano de las diferentes propuestas que se han englobado bajo el epígrafe de arqueologías post-procesuales. Éstas pusieron lo social e ideológico en el centro del debate, significando un giro radical, por ejemplo, respecto a la manera de plantear la etnoarqueología o a denunciar la “invisibilidad” de la mujer. Así, en las últimas décadas, la presencia de conceptos con connotaciones sociales como household, espacio social o género ha sido muy importante. Pese a todo ello, el conocimiento sobre la organización social de las sociedades cazadoras-pescadoras-recolectoras del pasado no ha avanzado significativamente en comparación con los años ochenta. Así pues, el objetivo principal de esta tesis es abordar el estudio de la organización del espacio social a partir de las diversas disciplinas que han podido estudiarlo: arqueología, etnografía y etnoarqueología. En primer lugar, se ha evaluado los debates e instrumentos conceptuales desarrollados desde estas disciplinas y desde las distintas teorías. En segundo lugar, y a partir de esta revisión del registro del Paleolítico Superior y Mesolítico en Europa, del registro etnográfico mundial y de los diferentes trabajos etnoarqueológicos, se ha visto la necesidad de plantear una nueva propuesta teórico-metodológica en coherencia con una teoría sustantiva (el materialismo histórico) y basada en el análisis de las interrelaciones espaciales. Una vez presentada, se ha contrastado con un ejemplo etnoarqueológico (Lanashuaia y Túnel VII, en la costa norte del canal Beagle). Los resultados ponen en evidencia el potencial de esta aproximación arqueológica que parte de la elaboración de categorías de análisis socialmente significativas, y no solamente descriptivas, y su capacidad al menos en un caso etnográfico conocido para inferir las normas sociales que se mantienen y transmiten mediante la organización del espacio social, como la división sexual del trabajo.
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Posters
Adopting a reductionist meaning of “material” it has been frequently considered that social relationships are not visible and thus that there is no possibility to have archaeological access to social organization. It has been argued that the relationships between people established in order to achieve their own social production and reproduction can actually not be derived from the archaeological record. Consequently, it is thought that social relationships should not be an object of study of archaeology.
This implies that for a lot of scholars the study of prehistoric social organization remains in a speculative field that is fed consciously or unconsciously by inferences derived from analogies. Some biased or particular observations are transferred uncritically into the past, presenting them as explanations of this same past. As a consequence, a static and fossilized view of modern HFG-S is build. Furthermore, given the inevitable archaeological reliance on analogy, it is important to ask whether conceptions of hunter-gatherers based on contemporary societies restrict our comprehension about past diversity and about how these HFG-S have changed over the long term.
A huge corpus of middle range theory and experimental archaeology has been built for the interpretation of the archaeological record to deduce some technical features and procedures of production of the subsistence. The problem arises if we admit that social organization are not synchronized with subsistence and therefore cannot be derived automatically from the evidences of the management of resources, moreover if we hypothesize that some changes in HFG-S are indeed the consequence of the mismatch between strategies for acquiring the subsistence and those strategies of social organization for reproducing the society.
Thus archaeology has to focus on a deep methodological research, and not just empirical investigation on environment and past technical features, to be able to reach a complete knowledge of the development of any society and to formulate hypothesis to explain both changes and stability.
This re-statement of our discipline must be done on the basis of a reflection of the theoretical bases from which we depart. The methods have to be calibrated; that is, to set up, evaluate and cleanse archaeological methodology, verifying at the same time explicative models or general laws of HFG-S mode of production. Contrasting the results of the archaeological method with the ethnographic records on a historical case of study would allow formulating an appropriate methodological approach to the integrated socio-economic study of HFG-S. Our research team has been doing this “Experimental ethnoarchaeology”, defined in a broad sense as an interface for methodological development of Archaeology, since 1986 studying the HFG-S of America’s southern tip. The results obtained by the contrast between the ethnographic image and the archaeological record on different types of sites (settlements, sepultures and ceremonial contexts) of the same societies, allowed to gain insights and some relevant conclusions about the essential features of the mode of production and reproduction and the social relations of HFG-S materialized in the archaeological record.
Conference Presentations
mobiliar, tradicionalmente las investigaciones sobre sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras prehistóricas se han centrado
en la seriación y el desarrollo de tecnocomplejos, o bien en el análisis de la explotación de recursos y las
estrategias de producción. La organización social y las normas sociales, consideradas como “lo ideológico”, en
oposición a “lo material”, se han considerado como elementos invisibles o muy difíciles, por no decir imposibles,
de conocer desde el registro arqueológico y, por tanto, se han tendido a ignorar o a extrapolar directamente
en base a analogías etnográficas. Así, por ejemplo, la asunción muy generalizada de que se trata de sociedades
igualitarias o de la existencia de liderazgos efímeros.
Sin embargo, consideramos que los principales límites a nuestro conocimiento del pasado, y en concreto a
las normas sociales que regulan el comportamiento de una sociedad (p.ej. la división sexual del trabajo), se
encuentran en la metodología y no en el propio registro arqueológico. Las normas sociales no son intangibles
ni inmateriales. La amplia información etnográfica existente muestra cómo en las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras
estos acontecimientos y patrones se materializan en ítems ideológicos, en el registro funerario, o en la
estructuración de espacios sociales diferentes.
La información etnográfica acumulada durante décadas de investigación en conjunción con la etnoarqueología
experimental puede ser una vía para reconstruir estos patrones y relaciones sociales mediante: 1) la excavación
de yacimientos de sociedades etnográficas extintas; 2) la experimentación y validación de hipótesis mediante
técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial y simulación social; 3) la generación de modelos; y 4) la destilación de
indicadores arqueológicos. En esta comunicación queremos presentar los resultados de esta experimentación, y
las propuestas que estamos trabajando en la actualidad.
This thesis formulated in the 90es allowed us to explain an observable universal practice in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies: sexual division of labor accompanied the discrimination and devaluation of the social value of women.
To verify this hypothesis we need to examine these asymmetrical relationships between women and men (that always favored men) and trace them back to its origins and causes.
Recurrent ethnographic record shows that funerary contexts reflect the relationships in the society of the living. Therefore, after discussing the meanings of ritual and simbols, we will argue that it is possible to approach the study these social asymmetries from analysis of (the objective value of) remains and funerary contexts.
We will propose a first approach to the study of this type of social asymmetry and eventually the traces of its origin through the study of changes and significant recurrences in Paleolithic and Mesolithic funerary contexts and by the research of other ideological features in the archaeological record.
Papers
Adopting a reductionist meaning of “material” it has been frequently considered that social relationships are not visible and thus that there is no possibility to have archaeological access to social organization. It has been argued that the relationships between people established in order to achieve their own social production and reproduction can actually not be derived from the archaeological record. Consequently, it is thought that social relationships should not be an object of study of archaeology.
This implies that for a lot of scholars the study of prehistoric social organization remains in a speculative field that is fed consciously or unconsciously by inferences derived from analogies. Some biased or particular observations are transferred uncritically into the past, presenting them as explanations of this same past. As a consequence, a static and fossilized view of modern HFG-S is build. Furthermore, given the inevitable archaeological reliance on analogy, it is important to ask whether conceptions of hunter-gatherers based on contemporary societies restrict our comprehension about past diversity and about how these HFG-S have changed over the long term.
A huge corpus of middle range theory and experimental archaeology has been built for the interpretation of the archaeological record to deduce some technical features and procedures of production of the subsistence. The problem arises if we admit that social organization are not synchronized with subsistence and therefore cannot be derived automatically from the evidences of the management of resources, moreover if we hypothesize that some changes in HFG-S are indeed the consequence of the mismatch between strategies for acquiring the subsistence and those strategies of social organization for reproducing the society.
Thus archaeology has to focus on a deep methodological research, and not just empirical investigation on environment and past technical features, to be able to reach a complete knowledge of the development of any society and to formulate hypothesis to explain both changes and stability.
This re-statement of our discipline must be done on the basis of a reflection of the theoretical bases from which we depart. The methods have to be calibrated; that is, to set up, evaluate and cleanse archaeological methodology, verifying at the same time explicative models or general laws of HFG-S mode of production. Contrasting the results of the archaeological method with the ethnographic records on a historical case of study would allow formulating an appropriate methodological approach to the integrated socio-economic study of HFG-S. Our research team has been doing this “Experimental ethnoarchaeology”, defined in a broad sense as an interface for methodological development of Archaeology, since 1986 studying the HFG-S of America’s southern tip. The results obtained by the contrast between the ethnographic image and the archaeological record on different types of sites (settlements, sepultures and ceremonial contexts) of the same societies, allowed to gain insights and some relevant conclusions about the essential features of the mode of production and reproduction and the social relations of HFG-S materialized in the archaeological record.
mobiliar, tradicionalmente las investigaciones sobre sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras prehistóricas se han centrado
en la seriación y el desarrollo de tecnocomplejos, o bien en el análisis de la explotación de recursos y las
estrategias de producción. La organización social y las normas sociales, consideradas como “lo ideológico”, en
oposición a “lo material”, se han considerado como elementos invisibles o muy difíciles, por no decir imposibles,
de conocer desde el registro arqueológico y, por tanto, se han tendido a ignorar o a extrapolar directamente
en base a analogías etnográficas. Así, por ejemplo, la asunción muy generalizada de que se trata de sociedades
igualitarias o de la existencia de liderazgos efímeros.
Sin embargo, consideramos que los principales límites a nuestro conocimiento del pasado, y en concreto a
las normas sociales que regulan el comportamiento de una sociedad (p.ej. la división sexual del trabajo), se
encuentran en la metodología y no en el propio registro arqueológico. Las normas sociales no son intangibles
ni inmateriales. La amplia información etnográfica existente muestra cómo en las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras
estos acontecimientos y patrones se materializan en ítems ideológicos, en el registro funerario, o en la
estructuración de espacios sociales diferentes.
La información etnográfica acumulada durante décadas de investigación en conjunción con la etnoarqueología
experimental puede ser una vía para reconstruir estos patrones y relaciones sociales mediante: 1) la excavación
de yacimientos de sociedades etnográficas extintas; 2) la experimentación y validación de hipótesis mediante
técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial y simulación social; 3) la generación de modelos; y 4) la destilación de
indicadores arqueológicos. En esta comunicación queremos presentar los resultados de esta experimentación, y
las propuestas que estamos trabajando en la actualidad.
This thesis formulated in the 90es allowed us to explain an observable universal practice in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies: sexual division of labor accompanied the discrimination and devaluation of the social value of women.
To verify this hypothesis we need to examine these asymmetrical relationships between women and men (that always favored men) and trace them back to its origins and causes.
Recurrent ethnographic record shows that funerary contexts reflect the relationships in the society of the living. Therefore, after discussing the meanings of ritual and simbols, we will argue that it is possible to approach the study these social asymmetries from analysis of (the objective value of) remains and funerary contexts.
We will propose a first approach to the study of this type of social asymmetry and eventually the traces of its origin through the study of changes and significant recurrences in Paleolithic and Mesolithic funerary contexts and by the research of other ideological features in the archaeological record.
The studies in Beyond War present the necessity of rethinking the concept of “violence” in archaeology. This overcomes the old conception that limits violence to its most evident expressions in war and intra- or extra-group conflict, opening up the debate on violence, which allows the advancement of knowledge of the social life and organization of prehistoric societies. Determining archaeological indicators to identify violent practices and to analyse their origin and causes is fundamental here, and represents the only way to find out when and under what historical conditions prehistoric societies began to organize themselves by exercising structural violence.
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