Abstract

BOBILLO, Federico Miguel  and  HOCSMAN, Salomón. Much more than just lithic procurement: activities at quarries and social practices in Pampa Oeste, Quebrada Seca and Punta de la Peña quarries (Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca). Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2015, vol.8, n.1, pp.23-44. ISSN 1852-060X.

Quarries and workshops at Punta de la Peña, Quebrada Seca and Pampa Oeste (Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca) are considered. These vulcanite procurement sites were intensively exploited during the occupational history of the region. The goal of this paper is to explore the multiplicity of social activities and practices involved in the use of these quarries.  In this way, quarries are not only considered rock deposits useful for subsistence, but also a social scenario where different social practices are materialized. Thereby, series of linked tasks are added to rock exploitation. For example, teaching/learning practices and subsistence, processing/consumption and ritual activities. This approach considers quarries from a framework oriented to analyze elections and practices carried out by agents in provisioning contexts. It assumes that social actors generate a variety of activities which are connected around the appropriation of a specific resource.

Keywords : Lithic procurement; Quarry activities; Social practices; Social agents; Argentinian Puna.

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