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book: Yutopian
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Yutopian

Archaeology, Ambiguity, and the Production of Knowledge in Northwest Argentina
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2015

About this book

Around 400 BCE, inhabitants of the Southern Andes took up a sedentary lifestyle that included the practice of agriculture. Settlements were generally solitary or clustered structures with walled agricultural fields and animal corrals, and the first small villages appeared in some regions. Surprisingly, people were also producing and circulating exotic goods: polychrome ceramics, copper and gold ornaments, bronze bracelets and bells. To investigate the apparent contradiction between a lack of social complexity and the broad circulation of elaborated goods, archaeologist Joan Gero co-directed a binational project to excavate the site of Yutopian, an unusually well-preserved Early Formative village in the mountains of Northwest Argentina.

In Yutopian, Gero describes how archaeologists from the United States and Argentina worked with local residents to uncover the lifeways of the earliest sedentary people of the region. Gero foregounds many experiential aspects of archaeological fieldwork that are usually omitted in the archaeological literature: the tedious labor and constraints of time and personnel, the emotional landscape, the intimate ethnographic settings and Andean people, the socio-politics, the difficult decisions and, especially, the role that ambiguity plays in determining archaeological meanings. Gero’s unique approach offers a new model for the site report as she masterfully demonstrates how the decisions made in conducting any scientific undertaking play a fundamental role in shaping the knowledge produced in that project.

Author / Editor information

A pioneer of archaeological theory, Joan M. Gero was Professor Emerita of Anthropology at American University in Washington, DC, and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. She coedited The Socio-politics of Archaeology and Engendering Archaeology: Women and Prehistory and was head series editor of One World Archaeology books.

Reviews

"A beautifully written, honest, and intriguing account . . . [that] presents the totality, the all of an archaeological experience, as much as is possible in a written text."
— Benjamin Alberti, Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Framingham State University

"A necessary reference for everyone interested in the pre-Hispanic history of the Southern Andes . . . [and] an original and important contribution to archaeological theory and practice in general."
— Axel Nielsen, Investigador Principal, CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas), Argentina

"Unlike any monograph I have ever read, it is truly interesting beyond its summary of findings. Each time I pick it up, I find it hard to put down….It is entirely unique."
— Vice-president of World Archaeological Congress (WAC)

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    Figures

    xv
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    Tables

    xxi
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    Acknowledgments

    xxiii
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  • Frameworks
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    1. Introduction

    2
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    2. Framework: Knowledge production at Yutopian

    8
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    3. Framework: Ambiguity and the lust for certitude

    12
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  • Project Context
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    4. Narrative: Project origins in a British steak dinner

    18
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    5. Socio-politics: Finding Northwest Argentina

    23
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    6. Narrative: Archaeologists and lugareños meet at Yutopian

    28
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    7. Backstory: Chronology in Northwest Argentina

    35
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    8. Argument: Ceramic sequences and social processes

    45
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    9. Narrative: Why excavate at Yutopian?

    48
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    10. Socio-politics: Should North American archaeologists dig in Argentina?

    51
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  • Starting to Dig
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    11. Argument: The positionality of practice

    56
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    12. Episode: Digging test pits

    60
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    13. Raw data: What the test pits told us

    63
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    14. Narrative: The incredible Pozo de Prueba 18

    65
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    15. Episode: Extending test pit excavations

    67
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    16. Andean ways: Inadvertent human remains

    70
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    17. Episode: Opening Estructura Uno

    71
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    18. Raw data: Inventory of artifact counts and special finds from Units 300, 301 and 302

    76
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    19. Narrative: Emotional moments

    79
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    20. Andean ways: The rodeo

    81
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    21. Argument: Excavation forms

    83
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  • Estructura Dos
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    22. Narrative: Coming and going

    90
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    23. Episode: Expectations and excavations in Estructura Dos

    92
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    24. Los hermanos

    98
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    25. Raw data: Inventory of special finds from Estructura Dos

    99
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    26. Narrative: Why was Estructura Dos disappointing?

    100
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    27. Backstory: Why live in a semi-subterranean house?

    102
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  • Estructura Uno
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    28. Episode: Excavating Estructura Uno

    108
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    29. Descriptive data: A tour of the occupation floor of Estructura Uno

    112
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    30. Raw data: Inventory of special and general finds from Estructura Uno, Units 303–306

    117
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    31. Major ambiguity: Metallurgy in the house?

    120
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    32. Argument: How the gendered household works

    123
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    33. Andean ways: Buy the cage and get the chicken

    127
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    34. Episode: Analysis in the field

    128
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  • Estructura Tres
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    35. Narrative: Arrivals, decisions, decisions!

    132
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    36. Backstory: Andean ethnobotany and flotation at Yutopian

    135
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    37. Episode: Excavating Estructura Tres

    138
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    38. Raw data: Inventory of special finds from Estructura Tres

    142
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    39. Narrative: The peculiar pits of Estructura Tres

    143
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    40. Andean ways: Honoring Pachamama

    148
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  • Interpreting Núcleo Uno
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    41. Episode: Exploring Núcleo Uno’s shared patio

    154
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    42. The square feature in the round patio

    157
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    43. Descriptive data: The entranceways of Núcleo Uno

    160
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    44. Narrative: The life history of Núcleo Uno

    163
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    45. Cooking the data: Changing patterns of lithic consumption in Núcleo Uno—Chalcedony and obsidian

    166
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    46. Narrative: How unique is Núcleo Uno at Yutopian?

    169
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    47. Backstory: How unique is Núcleo Uno in the world?

    171
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  • Estructura Once and the Issue of Remodeling Houses
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    48. Episode: The call of Estructura Once

    176
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    49. Andean ways: Eating quirquincho (armadillo)

    181
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    50. Raw data: Diagnostic ceramics by level from Estructura Once

    183
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    51. Descriptive data: Remodeling and repositioning the doorways

    184
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    52. Narrative: What did we learn from Estructura Once?

    186
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    53. Puzzle: What about the saucer-shaped house floors?

    188
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    54. Episode: Pozos de Prueba 12 and 12a

    190
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  • Estructura Cuatro
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    55. Episode: Opening up Estructura Cuatro (1996)

    194
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    56. Narrative in two modalities: The tri-lobate hearth

    197
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    57. Descriptive data: The hearth occupation level in Estructura Cuatro

    201
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    58. Narrative: Last-day fervor in Estructura Cuatro

    205
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    59. Socio-politics: Good-byes

    207
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    60. Episode: Estructura Cuatro excavations in 1998— The lower occupation

    209
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    61. Raw data: Inventory of special finds from Estructura Cuatro

    213
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    62. Descriptive data: The cache pit

    215
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    63. Andean ways: Chañar drinks

    218
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  • Looking for Núcleo Dos
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    64. Narrative: Where was Estructura Cuatro’s entranceway?

    222
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    65. Episode: Searching for Cinco and Núcleo Dos

    226
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    66. Raw data: Inventory of special finds from Estructura Cinco

    231
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    67. Narrative: Radical remodeling in Núcleo Dos

    232
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    68. Argument: Estructura Cuatro—Ritual and quotidian

    235
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    69. Narrative: A lab for all reasons

    237
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    70. Socio-politics: Yutopian in the community

    239
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  • Understanding Yutopian as an Early Formative Settlement
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    71. Raw data: Comparative characteristics of Yutopian structures

    244
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    72. Raw data: Radiocarbon chronology

    245
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    73. Narrative: The Formative settlement at Yutopian

    250
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    74. Backstory: Plazas and a “public”

    254
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    75. Argument: Yutopian’s boundaries and the site map

    258
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    76. Socio-politics: Why Yutopian has so little Formative context

    261
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    77. Entranceway ideologies

    263
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    78. Andean ways: Water management at Yutopian

    266
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  • Data from the Experts
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    79. Data from the experts: Agricultural practices at Yutopian (with Jack Rossen)

    270
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    80. Data from the experts: Plants and diet, now and then (with Jack Rossen)

    274
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    81. Data from the experts: Phytolith facts

    277
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    82. Data from the experts: Faunal remains (with Andrés Izeta)

    279
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    83. Data from the experts: Ceramic forms and designs (with M. Fabiana Bugliani)

    284
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    84. Cooking the data: Chalcedony and obsidian, part 2

    290
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    85. Data: Stone tools from other angles

    292
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    86. Data: Cross-mends and what they tell us

    299
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    87. Data: Beads and spindle whorls

    302
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  • Cardonal by Comparison
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    88. Narrative: The “other” Early Formative site—Cardonal

    308
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    89. Argument: Testing archaeology and its methods

    312
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    90. Socio-politics: Traveling to Cardonal

    314
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    91. Episode: A short field season testing Cardonal house structures

    317
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    92. Raw data: Special finds from the 2004 Cardonal field season

    323
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    93. Socio-politics: North-South collaborations in archaeology

    325
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    94. Backstory: Grinding stones (conanas, cutanas, morteros) and the holes in them

    327
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    95. Episode: Later work at Cardonal

    331
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    96. Andean ways: Llama caravans and long-distance exchange

    333
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    97. Narrative: Cardonal and Yutopian

    337
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  • Wrap-Up and Postscript
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    98. Wrap-up: Putting the project to bed

    342
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    99. Postscript: Early Formative society— Where’s the monumental?

    345
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    100. Follow-through: References cited

    350
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    Index

    361
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 3, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9781477303948
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.7560/772014
eBook ISBN: 9781477303948
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
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