Abstract

An anisotropic GIS distance model based on slope and travel time is tested to evaluate travel costs in environments with steep topographies (Lucero et al. 2021). The proposed ranges (local, non-local and extra-regional) are applied to evaluate supply costs and changes in access to obsidian sources: Arroyo Paramillos and Laguna del Diamante. The distribution of artifacts with geochemical analyzes assigned to these sources is evaluated; annual/seasonal availability of the sites from a snow cover analysis with GIS has also been considered. The decrease in obsidian follows the expected trends according to the decrease in sources, although it is asymmetric on both slopes of the Andes. Unexpected spatial trends can be explained by the location of sites at variable thresholds of seasonality and access depending on environmental changes, but also by social changes associated with the territorializing of space.