Andean Ethnoarchaeologies

Mauricio Massone recounts that in the 1970s, some prominent young researchers (Victoria Castro, Carlos Aldunate, and José Berenguer, among others) met to undertake a series of archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohistorical studies along the Salado River, in Toconce, and in the Upper Loa region.

One aspect of special importance that can be perceived in reading this book is the great sensitivity in giving meaning to historical knowledge in order to better understand the way of life of current communities: what their beliefs and aspirations are, how they are organized, what the local particularities are, what the sense of belonging to a greater Andean world is. This genuine commitment allows everything to flow in time and space, linking pre-Hispanic archaeological processes with current experiences, perceiving the color of caravan dynamics, and fixing a respectful and grateful gaze towards the tutelary hills.