Firewood, architecture for fire and society. Agro-pastoralist atmospheres in the Argentine Puna (South Central Andes, ca. 1500 B.P.)

Abstract

Social circumstances of the use of fire and firewood in past Andean societies are assessed through the anthracological, architectural and contextual analysis of a ritual burning in a foundational event of the agropastoralist societies from the Argentine Puna, at the southernmost part of the high desert of South Central Andes, ca. 1500 B.P. Ethnoarchaeological records on the properties and uses of native bush firewood are alluded to in the interpretation of the context. The composition of the dead bushy mixture was established as made up of 13 plant taxa collected in the vicinity -firewood, and collected in advance far from the place of use -incense plants. Likewise, differences in the composition of the plant mixture were observed when comparing the combustion core and the upper sector of the hearth. An uneven distribution of the soot was recorded, which showed the internal management of firewood and combustion residues. Aromas, smoke, color and light contrasts in the architecture of the combustion structure and the fire itself were defined. From this, a sensory ensemble and a given atmosphere around the fire are defined. They would correspond to household commensality events of the co-resident group which took place during the foundation of the “corral” for the confinement of the Camelidae cattle, and therefore during the foundation of the agro-pastoralist social group itself.