Frontiers and fortlets in the Pampa Region, Argentina

Abstract

Research on fortified military sites has been significant in Argentinean historical archaeology since its beginnings in the 1990s. This study of five mid-19th-century, contemporaneous outpost fortlets from the Southern Frontier area of the Pampa region exemplifies a new perspective on the traditional historical view focused on chronology and the definition of the military line of the frontier. It also improves the understanding of the fortlets by providing original interpretations regarding their materiality (settlement pattern, architecture, provision of goods and circulation, and social interaction, among others). Furthermore, archaeological perspectives have proven meaningful, not only in terms of material culture, but also in documentary research, by providing an anthropological interpretation of written and graphic sources, setting a new agenda for the study of fortlets and frontiers in the Pampa region.