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An archaeological dig in the south-central Andes:
Salamanca cave
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Elizabeth Pintar, Ph.D.
Introduction
Previous Research
November and December 2004 Research
A
Brief Introduction
Salamanca Cave is located in
the NW corner of Argentina,
in an area of the Andes called the
“puna”. The altiplano, or puna, is a high elevation desert which lies
above 3500 m (11,500 ft), and is surrounded by chains of high mountains and
volcanoes (over 5000 m or 16,400 ft). It is very dry – rainfall
is highly variable and is less than 100 mm ( 4 in.) a year, although in some
areas it might not rain for 10 years! The landscape is ribboned with
narrow green strips (“vegas”) where intermittent rivers wind their way down
from the high peaks into shallow lagoons or even into salt lakes. The
climate is quite harsh, given the elevation and the extreme aridity, so even
during the summer months (December to March) the nights are cold and the days
hot. The growing season is very short, thus it is extremely hard to grow
fruit and vegetables, although potatoes, quinoa, fava beans and alfalfa do
quite well in this climate. Plant cover is low, and consists of shrubs,
bunchgrasses and herbs. There are a variety of animals in the puna,
mainly two South American camelids: wild vicuñas, which are occasionally
seen grazing in the distance, and domesticated llamas that are raised by
the local herders for their wool and meat. They are often seen grazing on
green grasses in the vicinity of running water or water holes. Suris or rheas
(similar to the African ostrich), foxes, pumas or mountain lions,
flamingoes, chinchillas and vizcachas are also part of the
local fauna.
The research area is in the county of Antofagasta
de la Sierra (Catamarca, Argentina), where the
homonymous town of 1200 inhabitants has electricity for only 12 hours
daily. Houses are typically built of adobe bricks, and thatch
roofs. The main building in town is a small chapel where people gather
once a month when a preacher visits town. The other landmark is the
mayor’s office, where there is one telephone booth. An elementary school
lies at the end of the mud street. It is not rare to see very young children
ride a burro to school. This town is a true oasis in the middle of the
desert. Houses lie in the shade of tall alamo trees, and people’s
courtyards are riddled with colorful cosmos flowers in the summer. A lone
vicuña is penned in a large grassy lot just outside of the main area of the
town. Local merchants sell dried goods, canned foods and some fresh
produce that is trucked in form the lower valleys. This town derives its
economic importance from the llama (and sheep) wool which is sold in the low and
temperate valleys. Llamas are sheared once every two years. Both
women and men spin wool; however it is the women who weave thick blankets or
knit sweaters, gloves, and caps.
Previous
Research
Since my days as an undergraduate at the University of
Buenos Aires I began working in this remote part of Argentina, at a site called
Quebrada Seca-3 (elevation 4050m or about 13,300 ft), where there is an
uninterrupted sequence of human habitation spanning the last 9,000 years (we
have obtained these and other dates through the radiocarbon dating
method). The stone tools, animal bones and vegetal remains
retrieved indicate that this rockshelter was used by hunter-gatherers as a
temporary site where they performed one main activity: hunting vicuñas, and making
and maintaining their stone tools. Some meat was cooked and eaten at the
site; however some was also transported out of the site to other places,
probably their more permanent camp. The question is where? Now keep
in mind that hunter-gatherers are highly nomadic in contrast to the more
sedentary agricultural or even pastoralist groups. Another question that
has puzzled us too is that of the domestication of the llama: When and
why did the ancient dwellers of the puna shift from hunting to herding?
Why did they leave their nomadic lifeways and switch to a more sedentary
lifestyle?
Some of these answers might be buried in the different
layers of sediment at Salamanca
Cave. It is
about 8 km away from Quebrada Seca-3, though at a lower elevation: 3560 m
(11,700 ft.), and about 1 hr from town. It is a large cave (approx. 77 m2
or 690 sq.ft.) hung in the cliff that overlooks a narrow creek. Two
digging field seasons at this site tell us that it was once inhabited by hunter
and gatherer people, 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, and even earlier. The
archaeological remains include stone tools, such as spear points, a grinding
stone, scrapers, drills, knives and the stone debris from their
manufacture. Given the extreme dryness in this desert, organic remains are
impeccably preserved. Bones from the vicuñas that these people hunted,
sinew and tendons that were used as thread, bone tools, animal skins with hair,
wood shafts, wool thread, seeds, roots and twigs from shrubs, flowers and
charcoal are some examples of the kinds of remains that are found. This
archaeological evidence shows us that Salamanca
Cave was a camp where people ate
vicuña meat, tubers and roots, worked hides, manufactured woolen goods, and
made basketry with large cactus needles.
November and December
2004 Fieldseason at Salamanca Cave
Our goals for the 2004 field season were: a) to
expand the excavated area in order to understand how large an area of the cave was
occupied by its dwellers and what kinds of activities were performed, and b) to
dig as far down as possible to reach the earliest occupation of the cave.
Keep in mind that the earliest dates for human occupation in the South-Central Andes are about 10,000 years ago.
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* My deep appreciation to Austin
Community College for granting my
sabbatical leave and for giving me this awesome opportunity.