Glass Necklaces and Clay Pots: Mortuary Behavior in Early Hispanic-Indigenous Tilcara (Jujuy, Argentina)

Abstract

We present here the first results of an interdisciplinary research project at La Falda, a late-period cemetery located within the urban area of Tilcara, in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina. Several highly distinctive funerary features were identified, and the existence of a burial pattern not previously recorded in the region is reported.

The activities focused on the recovery, under guaranteed conditions of contextual association, of sample materials for bioarchaeological studies, including human osteology, faunal remains, macrobotanical remains, and flotation samples, as well as for archaeological studies of pottery, textiles, metallurgy, trade, and the exchange of sociotechnic items, among others.

The information recovered makes it possible to identify important aspects of mortuary behavior. The presence of elements belonging to the local Indigenous tradition is highlighted, together with the influence of foreign high-Andean canons and the arrival of European elements. The burial modality provides important evidence for attempting an interpretation of the characteristics of funerary practices at the particular moment when this cemetery was formed.

Aspects related to construction techniques, the individual and collective use of space, the sequence of entry into the chambers, symbolism, ritual, and general and specific behavior toward the phenomenon of death are discussed.