Domestic autonomy in a complex world (the Tafí Valley, Argentina)

Abstract

In this paper I discuss the strategies of social reproduction set in motion for the maintenance of domestic autonomy for almost a millennium in the Tafí Valley (NW Argentina). I present explanatory arguments about the motives, factors and relationships that led a population to perpetuate non-hierarchical political relations based on small-scale groups amalgamated by kinship ties. To support this statement, I study the role that played in the reproduction of autonomy with an emphasis on the types of social interaction that the material expressions of the ancestors enabled, organized, promoted, reinforced and fostered. Then, two scenarios with revered ancestors are described: the case of the mounds and the case of residential areas with a special attention placed on the courtyards and the presence of stone sculptures as well as of sepulchers or cists.