The Study of Rock Art Engravings Through Lithic Technologies: The Villavil 2 Site (Hualfin Valley, Catamarca, Argentina)

ABSTRACT

The rock art research related to Late Regional Developments and the Inca Period in Northwest Argentina (NWA) has commonly focused on iconographic, temporal, or significance studies, and little is related to the production context and stone tools used in this process. The following paper contributes to the study of engraving techniques in the northern area of the Hualfín Valley (De Catamarca Province, Argentina), based on the analysis of the operating chains, including the associated lithic materials and their functional determination. Previous analysis identified most of the motifs as figurative zoomorphs, which are related to the Inca Period and have some association with Belén/Santamariana iconography. These images were mainly created by removing part of the rock surface by pounding, and, to a lesser extent, incisions and scraping techniques are also recorded in the production of these petroglyphs. A functional analysis of the associated lithic materials confirms the kinematics employed and their relation in the production process. The analysis carried out also identifies that the artifacts used in this process would have expeditious designs and relatively abrupt working angles.

Las investigaciones desarrolladas acerca del arte rupestre relacionado con ocupaciones de momentos tardíos en el Noroeste Argentino (NOA), han estado comúnmente focalizadas al estudio iconográfico, temporal o de significación y pocos frecuentes aquellos relacionados al contexto de producción y a la identificación de los artefactos líticos utilizados en este proceso. Es así que el siguiente trabajo intenta contribuir con el estudio de las técnicas de producción de grabados en el sector norte del Valle de Hualfín (Catamarca, Argentina) a partir del análisis de las cadenas operativas que intervinieron en este proceso, incluyendo el estudio de materiales líticos asociados y su determinación funcional. El análisis realizado permitió reconocer que en su mayoría los motivos identificados son figurativos zoomorfos y que de acuerdo a los antecedentes en el área, pantean una estrecha relación con momentos de ocupación incaica y con asociación iconográfica Belén/Santamariana. A su vez, las técnicas aplicadas fueron definidas principalmente como picado, pero a partir de los resultados obtenidos de las cinemáticas identificadas mediante el análisis funcional realizado, se cree que en los primeros momentos de su producción incluiría la técnica de horadación. Por otro lado, si bien se registraron incisiones y raspado en la producción de estos petroglifos estas técnicas fueron aplicadas en menor medida y a partir de artefactos con diseños expeditivos y ángulos de trabajo relativamente abruptos.

KEYWORDS:

• Late- inca period
• petroglyphs
• lithic artifacts
• Hualfín valley
• NWA

Palabras claves:

• Tardío-Inca
• petroglifos
• artefactos líticos
• Valle de Hualfín
• NOA

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Emiliano Bentivenga, Milagros Rios Malan, and Laura Blanco who participated in the intensive survey in the Hualfín Valley. We are also grateful to Ophelie Lebrasseur for her comments and translation, which improved this manuscript. We thank the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología of Argentina (CONICET) for their financial aid. Although the research and ideas of many people are integrated into this paper, we assume full responsibility for its content.

Notes on contributors

Virginia Lynch Licentiate in Anthropology and PhD in Natural Sciences at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Museum, University of La Plata, Argentina. Post-Doctoral Researcher of CONICET. Nowadays, she is researching in CONICET and specializes in lithic technology and micro-wear analysis. She is also studying the cultural changes recorded through the lithic technology analysis at Patagonian plateaus.

Julieta Lynch Licentiate in Anthropology and PhD in Natural Sciences at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Museum, University of La Plata, Argentina. Researcher of CONICET and Assistant Professor in Micromorphology of Soils (Faculty of Natural Sciences and Museum). She is specialist on Inca archaeology in Argentina and the relation with local population (Inca and previous architecture and use of space), ceramic analysis and thin soil analysis (micromorphology analysis).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Therianthropomorphs were included in the “anthropomorph” motif type.