NEWS

Digs: We have finished the dig at the site Casa del Minero 1, which is a very important site. We continued with the dig at the site Cueva Túnel, a very particular one, and have started to dig the site La Cocina that is next to the latter.

Survey: We have been surveying long areas of the ranch still unknown, activity that we will necessarily continue during the next years because there are still huge zones unexplored. We have located a lot of lithic and pigment quarries as well as caves with unique rock art. We have also surveyed several lagoons at Cerro Bombero ranch as well as an initial survey in a site in the coast of San Julián. In every case, we have located the points with GPS.

Experimental Program: We continued with the rock art experimentation program. In this program, we created in a shelter experimental rock art, testing techniques, composition and style and using natural pigments that were collected from the surroundings.

Interdisciplinary Studies: We have counted with the collaboration and analysis of several specialists in different fields such as Geology, Geomorphology (Lic. Ramiro López, INREMI, Universidad Nacional de La Plata), Palinology and Paleoecology (Dr. Aldo Prieto, Dr. Virginia Mancini, Eugenia De Porras, Diego Navarro, Laboratorio de Paleoecología y Palinología. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata). Ramiro López has studied the sources of pigments and lithic raw materials from a geological point of view. The team of palinologists took polen samples from grids of many sites and helped us in the recognition of diverse vegetables.
Besides, this year the team managed by Dr. Cooper (University of Oxford, UK) took samples of extinct fauna to make DNA analysis (camelids and canids).
In addition, we have sent samples from sites Casa del Minero 1 and Cerro Bombero to be radiocarbon dated to LATYR, from Universidad Nacional de La Plata, managed by Dr. Anibal Figini.

Visit of Specialists: The painters Mario Otero and Hugo Oldach, who are inspired by patagonic rock art to design their paintings, exposed their symbolic point of view for the interpretation of the rock art. The Norwegian archaeologist Hans Peter Blankholm from Tromso University has visited the sites too.

Counselling: We have advised in the design of the Centro de Interpretación Histórica “Calafate”, recently opened and have handled pictures and tool replicas from La María. We have also offered a conference for tourist guides in the city of El Calafate, Santa Cruz.

Facilities: We have inaugurated a new laboratory located in Parque Científico y Tecnológico of Universidad Nacional de La Plata that is very adequate for our research.