ROCK ART SCATTERED AROUND THE DESERT (LA RIOJA PROVINCE, ARGENTINA)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discuss the location of rock art in a desert environment of La Rioja
province (Argentina). The central-south area of this province presents a variety of engraved rock art
styles. These styles correspond chronologically to two periods: Regional Integration Period (500-
1000 AD) and Regional developments (1000-1450 AD). Although there is an enormous availability
of rock surfaces to engrave, the rock art is found in certain isolated places, without direct
association with water sources or settlement sites. In this analysis, a rectangular area will be
considered with the parallel of 30º South Lat. as horizontal central axis. It includes two sectors 70
km distant which are proposed were inhabited by the same communities. Although these areas
present evidence of different activities, the rock art is distributed in a similar way maintaining the
same iconographic repertoire, reinforcing the hypothesis that it is a territory inhabited by
communities that shared an information system.