Abstract

PLANELLA ORTIZ, Maria Teresa; SANTANDER HORTA, Gabriela  and  MCROSTIE BUSTAMANTE, Virginia. Aportes a la discusión sobre piedras tacitas en Chile Central. Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.1, pp.5-17. ISSN 1850-373X.

This paper discusses information obtained from the study of bedrock mortars (piedras tacitas) located in the area of Tiltil, Rungue and Montenegro (33º Lat. S and 71º Lat. W), central Chile, where they are highly abundant. From the perspective of ethnographical, archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence we review traditional assumptions about their use, and provide additional insights into these cultural manifestations from the pre-Hispanic societies that inhabited this region. A variety of bedrock mortars, mainly associated with human occupation from the Early Ceramic period with reoccupation until the historical period, were recorded. The scarce presence of microfossils in the cups makes it difficult to establish what was ground in them. Drawing from Andean and Mapuche ethnography, the biogeographical analysis of the location of these bedrock mortars supports the idea of their ritual use.

Keywords : Bedrock mortars; Central Chile; Ethnography; Archaeobotany; Lithic morphotechnological analysis.

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