Las Pailas. Nuevos aportes para la comprensión de la agricultura prehispánica en el Valle Calchaquí Norte

Abstract

RESUMENLas Pailas constituye uno de los sitios arqueológicos con evidencias de explotación agrícola de mayor extensión y relevancia en los Valles Calchaquíes. La superficie cultivada habría alcanzado cerca de 500 ha, regadas por una compleja red de canales que distribuye el agua proveniente del deshielo de los picos nevados. El área agrícola se divide en dos sectores denominados Las Pailas 1 y 2, separados por un cordón montañoso que es atravesado por un camino arqueológico. Esta vía de comunicación entre ambos sectores encuentra continuidad hacia el oeste hasta llegar al Nevado de Cachi. El reconocimiento y estudio de la configuración agrícola del sitio constituye el punto de partida para analizar la relación de los pobladores con la tierra a lo largo de los dos milenios de ocupación de Las Pailas.Palabras clave: Valle Calchaquí Norte, tecnología agrícola, campos de cultivo, redes de riego. Las Pailas. New Contributions to the Understanding of Prehispanic Agriculture in the Northern Calchaqui ValleyABSTRACT Las Pailas is one of the most extensive and most important archaeological sites with evidence of farming at the Calchaquí Valley. The cultivated area has been of 500 ha, irrigated by a complex network of canals to distribute water from the melting of snow peaks. The agricultural area is divided into two sections called Las Pailas 1 and 2, separated by a mountain range which is crossed by an archaeological way. This channel of communication between the two sectors is continuing west to get to Nevado de Cachi. The survey and study of the agricultural setting of the archaeological site is the starting point for analyzing the relationship of people to land during two millennia of occupation in Las Pailas.

Subsistence and Economy at the Calchaquí Valley (Salta, Argentina) during the Regional Developments Period (ca. 1000-1430 AD): Zooarchaeology of Las Pailas locality

“…Recent contributions by other research groups include a detailed survey of agricultural facilities of the Central Sector and its vicinity by Páez et al (2012). Outside the settlement, cultivation enclosures are smaller, of a near rectangular or irregular layout.…”

“…The archaeological locality has an area of 390 hectares approx. (Páez et al, 2012), and four main sections were distinguished by Tarragó (1980) (Tarragó, 1980). Excavations focused on the Central sector.…”

Huancas and Rituals of Fertility in the farming Landscape of the Northern Calchaqui Valley (Salta, Argentina)

“…Chronological data obtained from radiocarbon dates indicate the site was extensively occupied during the Regional Development Period (fourteenth century A.D.) (Myriam Tarrago, personal communication 2011). Technological elements and the presence of ceramic styles diagnostic of the Inca Period indicate that the occupation extended until the arrival of the Spanish (Paez et al 2012;Paez and Giovannetti 2014).…”

“…It covers an area of approximately 500 ha; an additional 200 ha of site area have been partially destroyed by the modern occupation. Most of the site consists of land that was probably used for farming, with crop fields of varying sizes and shapes (Paez et al 2012).…”

“…Strip B comprises the central area, including the southeastern cluster of residential structures and the adjacent large area of fields extending northward. Strips A and C, on either side of the aforementioned rivers that border Strip B, include fields and structures whose function has not been clarified yet, but may be associated with farming (Paez et al 2012;Paez and Giovannetti 2014).…”