configurada a partir del siglo IV d.C. una forma de vida en torno a la diversificación de los roles sociales y el mantenimiento de desigualdades económicas y políticas, junto con mayor diversidad en la cultura material, caracterizada por el estilo Aguada. Investigaciones recientes tienden a confirmar su desarrollo local, con algunos elementos de fuerte continuidad, a la par de otros que marcan rupturas y resignificaciones. Trabajando desde el contraste que surge de la comparación entre las formas de vida caracterizadas por el estilo Aguada y las otras previas, centramos nuestra atención en el proceso local. Consideraremos las continuidades y rupturas, las reconfiguraciones e innovaciones, y propondremos luego una aproximación teórica al proceso. Dado que fue un cambio realizado en un tiempo relativamente breve, con incidencia profunda en numerosos aspectos de la sociedad, postulamos que en Ambato el proceso de cambio pudo tener un carácter drástico y no gradual. Palabra claves: complejidad social, diferenciación social, cambio, cultura Aguada, noroeste argentino. In the Valley of Ambato, Catamarca, Argentina from the IVth century A.D., a new way of life is formed with diversification of social roles and maintenance of economic and political inequalities. There is a correspondingly greater diversity in material culture, characterized by the Aguada ceramic style. Recent research tends to confirm a local development for this cultural process, which included some elements of strong continuity, along with few others marking ruptures with reworking meanings. Based on the contrast that arises from the comparison between the forms of life characterized by the Aguada style and the previous ones, we focused our attention on the local processes. Considering the continuities and ruptures, the reconfigurations and innovations, we proposed a theoretical approach to conclude that in Ambato the process occurred in a relatively brief period, with a profound impact on numerous aspects of society. Thus, we postulated that the change was drastic and not gradual.

Stable isotope analysis has been used in archaeology to answer a variety of questions. In general, the study of human palaeodiets has been the main subject. Studies of past animal feeding behaviour have not been considered extensively in South America. In this paper we discuss the interpretation of the d 13 C values in camelid bone specimens on the basis of published and new data from the southern Andes (northwestern Argentina). The temporal frame is mainly focused in the first millennium AD (part of the local Formative Period -400 BC to 600 AD -as well as the Regional Integration Period at 600-1000 AD, and the Late Period at 1000-1500 AD) which for this area implies a time of great social changes. Samples from modern Camelidae family were used to compare with those from archaeological sites, interpreting two different patterns that can be associated with distinctive animal feeding strategies. We suggest that these strategies can be associated with human management rather than free-range camelid feeding behaviour. Thus stable isotopes become an innovative strategy to segregate domestic from wild camelids, complementing those results achieved by osteometric and statistical analyses. Moreover, they allow for camelid management interpretation in three different localities of the area from the above-mentioned different periods.

X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), x‐ray imaging (XRI) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were applied to characterize and differentiate surface paintings of archeological pottery from the Aguada Ambato and Portezuelo styles (Catamarca, Argentina). Standard procedures are not always appropriate for such samples (paint layers are porous, nonplanar and discontinue). Image processing is necessary when chemical contrast is not discriminated. Soft x‐ray lines (e.g. Fe L) are more revealing because those detected come from shallower depths, clearly depicting the composition of the paint layer.These styles differ in mineralogy and chemistry suggesting that they are two distinctive entities not only on their designs but also on the materials chosen and the technology used. Aguada Portezuelo paints contain Ca (white), FeMn (black), FeMnCa (dark reddish) and FeCa (reddish). The white ones correspond to gehlenite, a firing product (possible firing temperature ≥900–1000 °C); calcite and CaO occur in cases of firing temperatures <900 °C.Aguada Ambato presents difficulties for paint discrimination; only EDS spectra show slight differences. White paint from Tricolor Ambato contains mainly Pb‐phases (hatchite, anglesite, plumalsite), reddish paint resembles the paste (∼Fe, hematite); reddish surfaces may have not been painted but polished. Black paint has scarce Mn–minerals. On Black Incised sherds no particular phase was identified suggesting possible organic pigments or resulting from the firing technique.The chemistry and mineralogy of the paste almost always overlap that of the paints; painted layer is irregular and partially worn by years of burial. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this study is to investigate spatial and temporal patterns of palaeodiet diversification through isotopic measurements (d 13 C COL and d 15 N) from individuals who inhabited the Central Mountains of Argentina during the Holocene. Isotopic measurements were obtained from bone and tooth samples from ten human skeletons, corresponding to the Middle and Late Holocene (4500-300 14 C BP). Isotopic results show the consumption of C 3 , C 4 and CAM plants, which reflects a mixed diet. Variation observed among hunter-gatherer sites could be associated with differences in the availability of animal resources. On the other hand, evidence from agricultural sites could be indicating a more omnivorous diet, with greater emphasis on vegetable resources. Regarding spatial variation, the d 13 C results suggest modest regional differences in diet in the later periods of the regional sequence. This study provides a first step to evaluating the role played by maize agriculture and the dietary variability in time and space for populations that inhabited the Central Mountains during the Holocene. Although preliminary, the evidence suggests that adoption of agriculture was complementary to huntergatherer subsistence strategies. However, the incorporation of cultigens seems to show regional differences. These results confirm the mixed character of the economy, previously inferred from other archaeological indicators.

In this study we test several hypotheses about the peopling of the central territory of Argentina, archaeologically known as Sierras Centrales, by testing the association between four alternative models of the peopling of the area and cranial morphological variation through distance and matrix correlation analyses. Our results show that the ancient inhabitants of Sierras Centrales demonstrated close morphological similarities with the Patagonian and Tierra del Fuego populations. Moreover, the correlation and partial correlation analyses suggest that the peopling of the Sierras Centrales most likely took place as a migratory wave proceeding from the present area of Northeastern Argentina, and continued southward to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

We report a study of the organisation of camelid production at the Ambato Valley, northern Argentine Andes, between the 6th and 11th centuries ad. We aim to contribute to the understanding of the different modes of economic production adopted in the past within non‐egalitarian social contexts. In view of this, information collected from previous studies is analysed from multiple perspectives, centering on the application of different analytical techniques to the assemblage of camelid bones (anatomical and taxonomical identification, osteometry and stable isotopes), to their diverse archaeological contexts and architectural and agricultural units, together with the implementation of frames of reference and ethnoarchaeological models. The results support the presence of an organisational mode for the production of plants and animals on the basis of a combination of different agrarian and livestock productive strategies under a unique new integrated agro‐pastoral practice, differing from both previous ones. This new practice combined, in the very same land, the use of pens and agriculture terraces in an annual productive cycle adjusted to the seasonal calendar, where maize production was used as stubble for llamas during the dry season, at the same time those fertilised corn fields during fallow. Although this new practice suggests an intensification in production, the bond and synergy of animal and plant productive strategies in a single practice could be considered risky because it decreases the range of possible responses to external fluctuation, to the extent that these could have influenced simultaneously or indirectly on both resources. This might have implied an extra factor contributing to the destructuration of the Ambato societies around 1000 ad. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

RESUMENEn este trabajo se discute el modo en que se organizó la producción ganadera en el Valle de Ambato, Catamarca, entre los siglos VI y XI d.C., a partir de nuevos análisis isotópicos de δ 13 C realizados sobre restos de camélidos. Los resultados alcanzados, sumados a los obtenidos previamente en otros trabajos, permiten plantear la existencia de dos formas de sustento de los camélidos: una de movilidad extensa y alimentación muy variada vs. otra de movilidad restringida y alimentación controlada. Esta última habría sido uno de los elementos fundamentales que habría conformado un sistema de producción agropastoril integrado, que articulaba la cría de plantas y camélidos en un mismo espacio y con una misma infraestructura.Palabras Clave: Camélidos Sudamericanos, Isótopos Estables, Aguada De Ambato. ABSTRACTIn this paper we discuss how livestock production was organized in Ambato Valley, Catamarca, between the VI and XI centuries AD, based on new δ 13 C isotopic analyzes performed on camelid remains. The results achieved, together with those previously obtained in other studies, suggest the existence of two forms of livelihood of camelids: one of extensive mobility and varied food vs. other of restricted mobility and controlled feeding. The latter would have been one of the key elements that have conformed an integrated agropastoral productive system, that articulated camelid and plant breeding in the same space and with the same infrastructure.

This article compares radiocarbon dates and the stratigraphic matrix obtained from excavations at the Piedras Blancas archaeological site, Ambato Valley, NW Argentina. Analysis revealed inconsistencies between 14 C dates and certain events that can be clearly identified in the stratigraphy of the site. This fact led first to recognize the importance of a detailed stratigraphic record to allow a point of control and comparison. Secondly, this article discusses for the present case, (a) the consistency shown by the dating performed on bone materials in relation to the stratigraphic matrix and (b) the inconsistencies identified in relation to the dating performed on charred plant material, although this type of material was chosen for collection and dating using all appropriate caution to prevent dating bias. Finally, the possibility is considered that the dated plant materials could be affected by the high microcharcoal concentrations observed in the valley's sediments as the result of fire regimes with a high frequency, which seem to have existed since at least about 4000 BP.