Current Research in Archaeology of South American Pampas

This volume includes a selection of papers derived from the IX Conference of the Pampas region of Argentina, held virtually in 2021 in Mar del Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and organized by the National University of Mar del Plata. Located in the southern cone of South America, the Pampas are vast plain grasslands that range across central Argentina and are one of the largest prairies of the world. The early traces of humans date back to ca. 12,200 14C years BP. From the Late Pleistocene up to the Spanish Conquest in the sixteenth century, hunter-gatherer groups occupied the Pampas. Archaeological research in the region has been focused on fascinating topics such as the early peopling, the mobility circuits in the past, the interaction between indigenous and colonial societies, and the perception of this complex past by the modern Pampean society, mainly integrated by European immigrants and indigenous descendants. This book gathers these themes and includes a selection of a conference of one of the keynote speakers and 18 papers that represent diverse topics on the current Pampean research. The book is structured in two main axes: 1) prehispanic studies using different lines of evidence; 2) historical archaeology and cultural heritage.