Assembling the Dead and the Living: Funerary Practices within Eastern Populations of the Southern Andes (Tucumán, Northwestern Argentina)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite extensive archaeological research, surprisingly little is known about regional and interregional mortuary practices in the Southern Andes, specifically in Northwestern Argentina. Large-scale excavation carried out in El Cadillal, undertaken between 1971 and 1972, resulted in the recovery of 44 prehispanic burials associated with Candelaria dated from AD 500 to 1000. Mortuary practices included primary and secondary inhumations of adults and infants in urns, collective and single stone-cist burials, and direct inhumations of adults in pits. In this paper we explore how these data compare to results from other archaeological sites inside and outside of the yungas, the eastern rainy forests of the southern Andes. The limited comparative research on funerary practices in nearby regions, such as intermontane valleys and ravines, makes it difficult to understand the nature of regional and interregional burial practices. We argue that funerary practices associated with Candelaria were more varied and complex than usually assumed, and suggest the possibility that mortuary traditions diffused to areas outside the yungas. We argue that previous studies on Candelaria’s funerary practices often do not consider the material, social, and semiotic contexts of action of the dead, and the development, maintenance, and reproduction of villager practices.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37234.0