2020-01-10 L. Grana (U.N. Jujuy), et al. Agricultural Oasis at the Southern Puna
Channel: Archaeological Research Facility, UC Berkeley
Date: 22/01/2020

This lecture was presented as the Institute of Andean Studies Travel Grantee Lecture on Jan 10 2020 in Berkeley, CA. 
Lorena Grana, Instituto de Datación y Arqueometría, Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico “Gral. Manuel Savio,” Universidad Nacional de Jujuy; Marcos Quesada, Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Catamarca, Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; Victoria Arévalos, Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Catamarca. 

Agricultural Oasis at the Southern Puna: Ancient Water Management in Antofagasta De La Sierra (Argentina). 
The objective of the presentation is to show how a number of simple hydrological technics enabled the irrigation of a vast area of Antofagasta de la Sierra (Puna-Argentina) during the Prehispanic period. Through a combination of multiscale methods (including satellite imagery analysis, ground-proofing survey, excavation, and diatom analysis of the features), we revealed five different irrigation networks with distinct designs and different scales of use. This allows us to figure out the complexity of knowledge about ancient water management, to better understand the capacities of societies to adapt to desert conditions, and to learn about the creation of agricultural oases.

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