ABSTRACT GEOMETRIC AESTHETICS OF THE VENTANIA HUNTER-GATHERERS (BUENOS AIRES PROVINCE, ARGENTINA)

Rock art is a visual communication system in which each motif constitutes a sign with a particular symbolic meaning and certain rules are used to combine those signs into patterns recognizable to the societies that created and used them. In the Pampean Region of Argentina this materiality is characterized by the predominance of rectilinear motifs, usually red in color and in an abstract geometric style. This work examined the cave representations of ancient hunter-gatherer groups that lived during the late Holocene in the area of Ventania and its adjacent plain (present-day Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). The motifs are studied from a comprehensive perspective that considers the aesthetic qualities of the representations in the framework of visual semiotics.