In the Middle of Nowhere: Inter-nodal Archaeology and Mobility in the Southern Andes

Summary

"Inter-nodal archaeology" contributes to research on social processes through the study of the areas between nodes, i.e., places where human activities tend to cluster (sites or densely settled areas, depending on the scale). By focusing on the material traces directly generated by people’s movement, this approach holds great potential for addressing questions regarding who travelled across regions and why. These possibilities are illustrated through research conducted in three inter-nodal areas of the Atacama Desert (the coastal stripe, the Upper Loa River, and the high Andean lakes). It is argued that interregional mobility during late prehispanic times involved --at least-- three practices with different agents, i.e., coastal individuals visiting the interior, local and foreign pastoralists travelling with caravans in different directions, and task groups from communities of the Loa river basin moving to the high puna in the summer. We discuss here the goals and archaeological signatures of each one of these mobility patterns.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Re-pensando la/s Movilidad/es Andina/s: Nuevas Perspectivas en Torno al Viaje, Contacto, Interacción, Intercambio y Obtención de Recursos en los Andes Centro-Sur   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15300