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1 mars 2013
- handle: 10670/1.mhf8av
Ce document est lié à :
10.4067/S0717-73562013000100003
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Mots-clés
Pre-Hispanic mining Atacama Desert ergology copperSujets proches
Engineering, Mining Mines and mining Mining Deposits, Mineral Mineral deposits Mines and mining Mineral resources Mining Mining industry and finance Metal industries Extractive industries Extractive industry Mines and mining Mining industry MiningCiter ce document
Valentina Figueroa et al., « PRE-HISPANIC MINING ERGOLOGY OF NORTHERN CHILE: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE », Chungará (Arica) - Revista de antropología chilena, ID : 10670/1.mhf8av
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Résumé
Mines, spoils, retention walls and pads are the most common material remains of pre-Hispanic mining activity studied by archaeologists. In this paper we will focus on yet another category, the mining ergology, defined as the material artefacts associated with day to day mining activities. Mining ergology seeks to document the technological equipment of the pre-Hispanic miner, which is seldom found in archaeological contexts due to poor preservation of organic materials. The arid conditions of the Atacama desert offer unique conservation possibilities which have shown a varied mining ergology that includes hafted stone hammers bound to wooden handles with rawhide and wool, lithic hammer heads, lithic and wooden shovels, baskets and capachos (rawhide sacks). The study of these components complements our knowledge of pre-Hispanic mining technologies and increases our understanding of the organization of mining operations, the diachrony of mining activity, the variability and continuity of the material record, and therefore of mining and its development in the Andes in general.