Archeology and Images. Iconographic sources for the study of the industrial past at the Ingenio Lastenia Site (Cruz Alta Department, Tucumán, Argentina)

Abstract

The Ingenio Lastenia site is made up of the remains of a sugar cane derivatives production unit that operated in the province of Tucumán (Argentina) between 1834 and 1966. Its more than 130 years of operation make it a witness to the various Stages crossed by the sugar industry from its origins. Faced with this condition, its study from Historical Archeology –and from Industrial Archeology as part of it- constitutes a contribution of great relevance to the understanding of the Argentine sugar past. Considering historical images as an element of great documentary value for the study of the past from the beginning of our investigations -in 2013- to the present day we have compiled numerous images of the factory that cover a time range between 1880 to 1966. The analyses carried out on a series of historical iconographic sources -engravings and photographs- corresponding to the years 1892, 1904, 1907, 1922 and 1928, they generated results that allowed: a) Locating the spaces represented in the field. B) Obtain a perception of the manufacturing landscape of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. C) Approach the context of production of the images. D) Investigate the technological systems used in the factory. E) Define a relative chronological sequence for the modifications that have occurred on a series of architectural structures within a span of 30 years (1892–1922).