The Famatinian orogen along the protomargin of Western Gondwana: Evidence for a nearly continuous Ordovician magmatic arc between Venezuela and Argentina

The continental protomargin of Western Gondwana in South America records an important Early-Middle Ordovician magmatic activity associated with the development of the Famatinian orogen. Almost the entire margin has evidence of a magmatic arc preserved as orthogneisses in the high grade metamorphic domains up to volcanic rocks of the same age interfingered with sedimentary facies. These subduction related calcalkaline rocks have new UPb zircon dates that show striking similar ages bracketed between 490 and 460 Ma. The different domains along the continental margin are compared taking the western Sierras Pampeanas as the type locality, showing an alternation among high grade metamorphic – greenschist facies – sedimentary facies. There are three deeply-exhumed segments preserved as orthogneisses in high grade amphibolite facies, the Sierras Pampeanas, the Marañón and the Santander-Mérida domains. These domains are flanked by greenschist facies such as the Quetame in Colombia, the Vilcabamba in Perú, and the Puna Eruptive Belt in northern Argentina. Some segments are characterized by sedimentary facies as the Altiplano domain of Bolivia and the Olmos-Loja domain between Perú and Ecuador. The location and metamorphic grade are controlled by the amount of shortening and uplift, responsible for the different crustal levels exposed, as a consequence of the characteristics of the distinct terranes that collided against the continental margin. As a final remark, the time span of the Famatinian episode when globally compared has a widespread development in Laurentia, Baltica, and Australia, as a consequence of a period of high mobility of the plates during Early-Middle Ordovician times.Fil: Ramos, Victor Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; Argentin

A Contemporary Archaeology of Cultural Change in Rural North-Western Spain: From Traditional Domesticity to Postmodern Individualisation

This paper explores the built environment in two rural areas of Northwest Spain that were historically inhabited by two of the so-called “cursed peoples.” Combining contemporary archaeology and material culture studies, we analyze the role played by the house in processes of socio-economic and cultural change, and in the reproduction of internal hegemony within villages. To do so, we study the tensions and connections existing between the transformations undergone by the built environment during the last century and different socio-economic processes, including the depopulation of the rural areas, their conversion into tourist attractions, and the current process of individualisation of subjectivity in line with the transformations taking place in the postmodern era.Peer reviewe