WEAVERS, MOLES AND PARTISANS: PRACTICES AND NOTIONS ABOUT THE FIELD WORK IN ARCHEOLOGY AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN ARGENTINA

The presence of the analyst in "the field" or the fusion of a theoretical and empirical researcher in one single being, is a central feature of the anthropological metier and defines every anthropological branch. This paper examines, on one hand, the centennial itinerary of notions and practices through which both archaeologists and social anthropologists have investigated the Argentine past and present, since anthropology started to institutionalize at the late nineteenth century. On the other hand, it analyzes how anthropologists themselves have defined their own expertise, turning fieldwork into their hallmark despite their acting on a stage run by political and intellectual antagonism and persecution.