Estudio petrográfico de la cerámica arqueológica del primer milenio d.c. al sur de los valles Calchaquíes (Noroeste argentino)

Abstract

This article describes a research project that sought to establish technical ceramic manufacturing styles used by potters of agropastoral societies that lived during the first millennium AD at sites to the south of the Calchaquí valleys (Northwest Argentina). The methodology considered ceramic containers as the units basic of analysis, as these were the objects actually used in the prehispanic domestic contexts under study. Secondly, petrographic analysis permitted the identification of possible patterns through the differences and similarities observed in the fabrics. Finally, different technical styles for each of the reconstructed vessels were inferred through a combination of petrographic and experimental results, as well as lithological data from the study area. The resulting patterns link particular 'ways of making' with specific variations in the morphological repertoire as well as with different ceramic designs and styles. A total of 155 thin sections were studied. The study identified domestic pottery production of predominantly local character, alongside low frequencies of foreign objects, and locally produced objects that resemble ceramics from other areas of NW Argentina. This allowed verifying the existence of a craft tradition with local manifestations that prevailed in the study area during the first millennium AD.