Occupational trajectories and local spaces during the ceramic periods in the puangue and angostura valleys, central chile

Pre-Hispanic societies of the Ceramic Periods in Central Chile have been described in archaeology as low-scale societies. Here we propose that the locality or microregion are relevant spatial scales of analysis to address the economic, social, and political life of these groups. A comparative analysis of two local-scale areas, Angostura and Puangue-Pomaire, reveals that although both areas share a general sequence and a historical process at a regional level, local trajectories differ in terms of temporality, dynamics, and characteristics. The settlement of Early Ceramic groups occurs at a much later date and is less prominent in Puangue-Pomaire, which shows evidence of a much stronger Inca and historical presence. On the other hand, a neutron activation analysis of domestic pottery sherds reveals that some knowledge, such as the sources and/or recipes of pottery raw materials, is shared on a small scale in both cases, but varies according to the characteristics and possibilities of the local landscape, which involves areas of no more than 10 km.