Caravan trails in the highlands of northwestern Argentina

Abstract

Evidence is presented of prehispanic paths in a sector of the puna highlands of northwestern Argentina. Trails are identified that correspond to llama caravans as well as associated sites between puna settlements like Antofagasta de la Sierra (Catamarca) and the fertile nearby valleys in the provinces of Salta and Catamarca during the Formative and Late periods between approximately the fourth and sixteenth centuries AD. This allows an examination of the continuity of social interactions between the groups inhabiting these different ecological zones where pastoralism was largely predominant in the puna, while agriculture dominated life in the valleys. The research falls within the theoretical-methodological proposals of internodal archaeology, wherein the areas between nodes – the settlements where journeys start and end – constitute a necessary complement regarding social practices that occur in the nodes. Internodal archaeology allows approximation of a scarcely considered dimension in interaction studies, one that involves actors, practices, and relational contexts that enable or hinder the circulation of goods.