Was There a Santa Maria Culture? A Discussion of a Commonly Used Concept in Argentine Archaeology

Abstract

In this article the Santa Maria culture, a commonly used concept in Argentine archaeology, is discussed. Historically, this concept has been given varying definitions, which all have to be evaluated. As far as we understand, only aspects of the variability in artifacts, etc., have been used to define cultural units. A more fruitful and perhaps more empirical approach estimates the general variability without a priori assuming one single explanation or interpretation for this variability.