Gonzalo Pimentel

Caravan Archaeologies Workshop/Taller de Caravanas Arqueológicas

Estragegias de movilidad, intercambio y agenciamientos societales prehispánicos en la pampa del desierto de Atacama (ca. 7000-550 BP) [Prehispanic mobility strategies, exchange, and human assemblages in the Atacama Desert pampa (ca. 7000-550 BP)]. Autores: Gonzalo Pimentel, Francisco Gallardo, Mariana Ugarte, José Blanco, Christina Torres-Rouff and William J. Pestle.

The Pampa Region of the Atacama Desert is one of the driest and harshest regions of the planet. In this work, we present results from our investigation into the pre-Hispanic road networks of this hyperarid region, where we have identified a variety of mobility strategies, dynamics and a variety of assemblages deployed by the different communities that inhabited the Pacific coast and the inland oases of this region. In particular, we focus on archaeological and biogeochemical evidence that provide direct testament of the presence of travelers from both the coast and the interior from the Middle Archaic to the Late Period (ca. 7000 BP-550 BP). Furthermore, we analyze how, beginning in the Formative Period, coastal societies and the inland oases employed different mobility systems to integrate this apparent “empty space” into the territorialization of the south Andean social world.