2019_Rock Art, Ontology and Cosmopolitics in the Southern Andes

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2019

Technology has been a central theme in archaeological discussion. Different approaches have been developed in order to understand and better explain the processes that lead to the production of objects and things. The anthropology of technology has been one such effort, with its focus on technological style and the chaîne opératoire. In this paper we argue that, despite their many contributions, these approaches tend to isolate the process of production, as well as to see it as the imposition of culture over nature. Instead, we propose a relational approach to technology, one that considers the multiple participants in the social actions involved, stressing the affective qualities of the different entities participating in the process of making. We focus this discussion on the production process of rock art in North Central Chile by Diaguita communities (c. AD 1000-c. 1540), arguing that making petroglyphs was a central activity that aimed at the balancing of the world and its participants, creating a mediating space that facilitated connectedness between the multiple members of the Diaguita world, humans and other-than-humans.

Technology has been a central theme in archaeological discussion. Different approaches have been developed in order to understand and better explain the processes that lead to the production of objects and things. The anthropology of technology has been one such effort, with its focus on technological style and the chaîne opératoire. In this paper we argue that, despite their many contributions, these approaches tend to isolate the process of production, as well as to see it as the imposition of culture over nature. Instead, we propose a relational approach to technology, one that considers the multiple participants in the social actions involved, stressing the affective qualities of the different entities participating in the process of making. We focus this discussion on the production process of rock art in North Central Chile by Diaguita communities (c. AD 1000-c. 1540), arguing that making petroglyphs was a central activity that aimed at the balancing of the world and its participants, creating a mediating space that facilitated connectedness between the multiple members of the Diaguita world, humans and other-than-humans.

Rock Art, Ancestors and Water: The semiotic construction of landscapes in the central Andes, 2017

As landscape art, the rock art of the central Andes offers clues regarding relationships between ancestor veneration and the negotiation of rights to water through time. To understand these relationships this thesis focuses on a large complement of rock art on the Fortaleza Ignimbrite (FI), a distinct geologic formation, situated at the headwaters of the Fortaleza and Santa Rivers in highland Ancash, Peru, (3400 - 4250 m.a.s.l.). A systematic, regional survey of the FI revealed 299 archaeological features, of which 192 are rock art places, consitituting one of the highest concentrations of rock art ever recorded at such high altitudes. GIS analysis of the survey data reveals how certain rock art styles, motifs and production techniques relate to altitude, and specific geologic, hydrological and built features. The stratigraphy of carved and painted rock art of the FI is paired with the archaeological stratigraphy and radiocarbon results retrieved from excavations at three puna rock shelters and one collective tomb, in the lower altitude quechua ecozone, to answer the question of when these works were produced. The results from these methods are synthesized to develop a typological sequence, and a spatio-temporal map of the of the rock art of the FI, defined by styles and traditions, which spans approximately 3,000 years (1800 B.C – A.D. 1820). Because the FI sits at the nexus of ecological, political, economic and religious realms, and because it is located at strategic places of power, this thesis hypothesizes that its rock art was active in constructing social landscapes in the region by facilitating the control of resources, primarily water and heritage. In other words, instead of prioritizing the referential meaning of rock art, the primary question of this thesis asks what role the rock art of the FI had in socializing the land. In this regard, the central argument of this investigation is that rock art places are the result of, and agents of, landscape and that they relate people in a communicative system having to do with their many purposes and symbolism. To support this argument and model the manifold relationships between people, the land and rock art in answering the primary research question, Alfred Gell’s tripartite, semiotic model of icon-index-symbol is applied to the styles and traditions of rock art identified in this thesis. Gell’s other tripartite model of artist-prototype-recipient is then applied to answer the question of who produced these works and who they had intended as their audience. These models inform how rock art relates to landscape construction and provide the basis for developing and applying a Peircean, eco-cultural semiotic model, contextualized in part by 17th century historic accounts from the region, to elucidate how in situ, landscape-based art related to social interactions in the central Andes.

In this groundbreaking study the author looks at three consecutive styles of rock art, placing them in the social context in which they were produced. Although necessarily succinct, the argument shows that as hierarchy increased and functioned over longer distances, rock art could perform as the organ of pastoralist authority, or the badge of marginalised hunters or, most often, as the imagery of consensus masking social inequality.

The distribution and location of Naturalistic Tradition rock art paintings from the Precordillera (western foothills of the Andean Cordillera), in northernmost Chile, are discussed. Stylistic similarities in rock art suggest a connection between different sites and the construction of a specific symbolic territory and cultural landscape, where information-flows played a significant role. This process begun after the end of the Middle Archaic period (ca. 6000 BP) and during the Late Archaic (6.000–3.700 BP), when important transformations took place in social organization, interaction, mobility, economy and ideology in the whole South-Central Andes region. In the Precordillera changes related to camelid management were crucial, as shown by specific scenes of animals and human-animal interactions. The legitimation of this space required a territorial definition and new social interactions. In addition to the study of settlement patterns in the precordillera, this rock art study contributes to the further consideration of the social dimensions of the archaic highland communities.

Quaternary International, 2019

The distribution and location of Naturalistic Tradition rock art paintings from the Precordillera (western foothills of the Andean Cordillera), in northernmost Chile, are discussed. Stylistic similarities in rock art suggest a connection between different sites and the construction of a specific symbolic territory and cultural landscape, where information-flows played a significant role. This process begun after the end of the Middle Archaic period (ca. 6000 BP) and during the Late Archaic (6.000e3.700 BP), when important transformations took place in social organization, interaction, mobility, economy and ideology in the whole South-Central Andes region. In the Precordillera changes related to camelid management were crucial, as shown by specific scenes of animals and human-animal interactions. The legitimation of this space required a territorial definition and new social interactions. In addition to the study of settlement patterns in the precordillera, this rock art study contributes to the further consideration of the social dimensions of the archaic highland communities.

Australian Archaeology, 2019

The production of rock art was a recurrent practice in pre-Colombian America and continued after the arrival of Europeans in AD 1540 and conquest by the Spanish Empire. Contact rock art associated with this historical moment is known in various regions of the Andes. The main focus of study has been through characterisation, defining relative chronologies and assessing which rock art images are attributable to Indigenous communities. In this work, we explore the contact rock art of north-central Chile through two complementary lines of discussion. On the one hand, we assess how the manufacture of rock art in colonial times articulated with earlier production dynamics. On the other, the co-existence of agrarian and hunter gatherer groups in this region in the 16th century AD allows us to compare how the rock art of these two groups reacted to the imposition of Spanish colonisation. The results enable us to identify similarities and differences in the dynamics of contact rock art in the two groups, related both to Spanish policies and to the historical traditions of native communities. Despite the differences, the new visual productions were incorporated into the ancestral spaces of both the agrarian and hunter gatherer communities.

The Oxford Handbook of the Incas

In many provinces of the Tahuantinsuyu, the understanding of Inca domination has been focused on the political strategies implemented by the state. However, the political landscape developed during this time required an engagement with dynamic local communities. By studying the visual and spatial distribution of rock art in North-Central Chile, we discuss how traditional community practices were transformed during the Inca era. We propose that in the Late Intermediate Period rock art was key in the production of a corporate community, whereas in the Inca period it promoted the construction of hierarchy and social differences within the communities. This change was promoted by the local leaders, who took advantage of ancestral places and traditional community practices. Simultaneously, the Inca political strategy made concerted efforts to invisibilize such places and practices.

Australian Archaeology, 2018

The production of rock art was a recurrent practice in pre-Colombian America and continued after the arrival of Europeans in AD 1540 and conquest by the Spanish Empire. Contact rock art associated with this historical moment is known in various regions of the Andes. The main focus of study has been through characterisation, defining relative chronologies and assessing which rock art images are attributable to Indigenous communities. In this work, we explore the contact rock art of north-central Chile through two complementary lines of discussion. On the one hand, we assess how the manufacture of rock art in colonial times articulated with earlier production dynamics. On the other, the coexistence of agrarian and hunter gatherer groups in this region in the 16th century AD allows us to compare how the rock art of these two groups reacted to the imposition of Spanish colonisation. The results enable us to identify similarities and differences in the dynamics of contact rock art in the two groups, related both to Spanish policies and to the historical traditions of native communities. Despite the differences, the new visual productions were incorporated into the ancestral spaces of both the agrarian and hunter gatherer communities. ARTICLE HISTORY