“SI VUELCA LA LUNA...”: CONCEPCIONES ASTRONÓMICAS Y METEOROLÓGICAS ENTRE LOS COLONOS DEL SUR DE LA REGIÓN CHAQUEÑA ARGENTINA
“IF THE MOON ROLLS...” ASTRONOMICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL CONCEPTS AMONG THE COLONISTS IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE ARGENTINEAN CHACO REGION

Author(s): Armando Mudrik
Subject(s): Anthropology, Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Ethnoastronomy; Chaco Region; European colonists; Moon; rain
Summary/Abstract: In this paper, we present a study about astronomical practices related to meteorological phenomena, among European colonists and their Argentinean descendants, in the context of a complex interaction between criollos, aboriginals, and European colonists from different origins and religions who settled in the northern area of the Argentinean province of Santa Fe, which is part of the southern Gran Chaco. These colonists arrived among waves of immigration occurring in Argentina in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Through ethnographic field research among these immigrants and their descendants, we surveyed observation practices of heavenly bodies to predict critical meteorological phenomena for farming tasks, like rains. We analyze some of these practices to understand the logic behind them and the contact process among the different social groups’ astronomical ideas in the mentioned region. On the other hand, we also explore the tension that has been present for some years between the “old” representations and practices related to the sky and academic knowledge. Besides, we propose a possible observational basis to one of these practices by statistically analyzing the informant’s rainfall records.

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