Colección “Casanova-Gatto”: contribución al estudio de la historia de las investigaciones de la quebrada de La Cueva (Humahuaca, Jujuy) y la reconstrucción de su pasado

Abstract

Resumen: Prácticamente –hasta finales del siglo XX–, la historia de las investigaciones de la quebrada de La Cueva (departamento de Humahuaca, provincia de Jujuy) se construyó a partir de la conformación de una colección, fruto de las exploraciones realizadas en 1931 por Eduardo Casanova y Santiago Gatto –comisionados por el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural “Bernardino Rivadavia”–. El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo analizar la trayectoria de formación de la colección “Casanova-Gatto”, actualmente dividida al estar depositada en el Museo Etnográfico de Buenos Aires “Juan B. Ambrosetti” y en el Instituto Interdisciplinario Tilcara (instituciones dependientes de la Universidad de Buenos Aires). Además, abordaremos los alcances y límites del soporte material (cerámico, lítico, óseo, metálico, etc.), y el escaso registro documental sobre dicha colección, para reconstruir la historia de su formación y evaluar el lugar que ocupó y ocupa en la construcción de narraciones y/o interpretaciones sobre el pasado de la quebrada de La Cueva. Algunas de esas narraciones tomaron como base la interpretación original de Casanova de los años treinta, a pesar de la distancia temporal y teórica que separaba dichas instancias de investigación. Otras narraciones interpretaron e interpretan el pasado de la quebrada de La Cueva desde perspectivas diferentes. Esto se debe a cambios en los enfoques teóricometodológicos y los nuevos datos que surgen del estudio de los sitios arqueológicos y de otras colecciones previamente conformadas, pero recientemente estudiadas (como la colección que sobre la misma zona armó Benjamín Muniz Barreto, a partir de los trabajos realizados por Karl Schuel en 1919). El trabajo muestra cómo la historia de estas investigaciones y el contexto socio-histórico disciplinar en el que se insertan, incide en el desarrollo y en los resultados de los estudios de éste sector del Noroeste Argentino.

Abstract: "Casanova-Gatto" Collection: contribution to the study of the history of research in the La Cuevagorge (Humahuaca, Jujuy) and the reconstruction of its past. The history of the research carried out in the La Cueva gorge (Humahuaca department, Jujuy province) until the end of the 20th century, started with the conformation of a collection that resulted from explorations done in 1931 by Eduardo Casanova and Santiago Gatto, commissioners of the National Museum of Natural History “Bernardino Rivadavia”. The following article proposes an analysis of the history of the conformation of the “Casanova-Gatto” collection, currently deposited in the Ethnographic Museum of Buenos Aires “Juan B. Ambrosetti” and the Interdisciplinary Institute of Tilcara (both institutions dependent on the University of Buenos Aires). We will also assess the scope and limits of the supporting material (pottery, lithic, bones, metal) and the scarce documentary record regarding this collection, in order to reconstruct how it was formed, and assess its past and present role in the construction of narratives and/or interpretations about the past of the La Cueva gorge. Some of these narratives were based on Casanova´s original interpretation from the 1930s, despite the temporal and theoretical distance between those research instances. Other narratives interpreted, and still do, the past of the area from alternative perspectives. The latter stem both from changes in theoretical and methodological approaches and from new data gathered from the study of related archaeological sites and other collections assembled in the past, but only recently studied (for example, the collection prepared by Benjamín Muniz Barreto with archaeological material from the same area, using as basis the works of Karl Schuel in 1919). This article shows how the history of these investigations and their socio-historical disciplinary context influence the development and results of studies in the part of the Argentinian Northwest. ABSTRACT. "Casanova-Gatto" Collection: contribution to the study of the history of research in the La Cuevagorge (Humahuaca, Jujuy) and the reconstruction of its past. The history of the research carried out in the La Cueva gorge (Humahuaca department, Jujuy province) until the end of the 20th century, started with the conformation of a collection that resulted from explorations done in 1931 by Eduardo Casanova and Santiago Gatto, commissioners of the National Museum of Natural History “Bernardino Rivadavia”. The following article proposes an analysis of the history of the conformation of the “Casanova-Gatto” collection, currently deposited in the Ethnographic Museum of Buenos Aires “Juan B. Ambrosetti” and the Interdisciplinary Institute of Tilcara (both institutions dependent on the University of Buenos Aires). We will also assess the scope and limits of the supporting material (pottery, lithic, bones, metal) and the scarce documentary record regarding this collection, in order to reconstruct how it was formed, and assess its past and present role in the construction of narratives and/or interpretations about the past of the La Cueva gorge. Some of these narratives were based on Casanova´s original interpretation from the 1930s, despite the temporal and theoretical distance between those research instances. Other narratives interpreted, and still do, the past of the area from alternative perspectives. The latter stem both from changes in theoretical and methodological approaches and from new data gathered from the study of related archaeological sites and other collections assembled in the past, but only recently studied (for example, the collection prepared by Benjamín Muniz Barreto with archaeological material from the same area, using as basis the works of Karl Schuel in 1919). This article shows how the history of these investigations and their socio-historical disciplinary context influence the development and results of studies in the part of the Argentinian Northwest.