Potrero de Garay and the late prehispanic residential sites at Sierras of Córdoba (Argentina)

Abstract

Without a doubt, Potrero de Garay is a classic site for those of us who do archaeological research in the Sierras de Córdoba (Argentina). Its meaning was striking enough that one of the authors of this note, with only 15 years of age and after reading the article, undertook a journey of tens of kilometers by bicycle, just to know the site and using the magazine Comechingonia No. 4 (1984) as GPS. The other author remained obsessed for years with analyzing the archaeological and fauna remains of the site, of which only general data on the presence / absence of certain species had been published. Until he finally had access to them, to carry out his bachelor thesis at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires. Some time later, Dr. Eduardo Berberián, researcher of the site and co-director of the thesis, commented something like: "This boy speaks of Potrero de Garay as if he were Teotihuacán". But, beyond the exaggerated comparison, Potrero de Garay is really a site that marked an unprecedented milestone in regional archeology, and even today it occupies a central place in the investigation of the Late Pre-Hispanic Period.