Dwelling empty spaces. Bodies, landscapes and ontologies in the early peopling of central Argentina

Authors

  • Andrés G. Laguens Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba – CONICET, Argentina)
  • Benjamin Alberti Framingham State University, USA.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v12.n2.18254

Keywords:

Ontology, Perspectivism, Peopling, Landscape, Body

Abstract

Models of initial peopling of unknown territories implicitly bring into play ontologies of the body and of space or nature, with two strong ideas: that of empty spaces of humans and of an unknown milieu, a “terra ignota”. It is always about an encounter between human groups and a space to be discovered, to be experienced. In that path people actively interact with particular materials while building their landscapes. New inquiries lead us to question this vision and that of a landscape archaeology that does not consider the ontological particularity of the idea of the body. We refer to a case study in San Luis, Argentina, and we will see what happens when the same is seen from a particular situated ontology – South American perspectivism. We understand that peopling ‘terra ignota’ from a perspectivist body and ontology is not to create landscapes but to dwell a space of interrelations that, although defined as well as actively and constantly maintained through relations, practices and experiences between human and non-human subjects; ultimately it is a world of pre-constituted interrelations, based on the own ontology of the subjects in question.

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Published

2019-08-24

How to Cite

Laguens, A. G., & Alberti, B. (2019). Dwelling empty spaces. Bodies, landscapes and ontologies in the early peopling of central Argentina. Revista Del Museo De Antropología, 12(2), 55–66. https://doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v12.n2.18254

Issue

Section

Archaeology