The raw and the cooked. A new approach to the “cerritos de indios”

Abstract

In this work we synthesize the process that led us to formulate a new proposal of how the “cerritos de indios “ --mounds of the Merín lagoon basin-- were built. We start from two lines of evidence: the mounds formed progressively during secular periods, and the presence of fire during its elevation. The search for human behavior that will explain secular growth and fire led us to earth ovens and food cooking systems with their sociocultural implications. Earth ovens have a wide spatial-temporal diffusion (30,000 a P; Americas, Eurasia, Oceania) and their adoption is related to a process of economic intensification that integrates the exploitation of vegetables, whose nutritional value is improved through cooking. In Australia the use of this cooking technique and the intensive exploitation of these vegetables caused the formation of
one type of mound: the oven mounds. Archaeological and mainly ethnographic information has allowed us to know its function and meaning. They increase as a result of the secular accumulation of waste produced by the assembly and use of earth ovens, mainly thermally altered sedimentary materials. We conclude by exploring the implications of analogy as a means to increase our knowledge about “cerritos de indios.”