The Trees in the Construction of Landscapes in the Argentine Pampean Region: Changes, Continuities, and Resignifications in the “Primera Estancia” of Magdalena (Buenos Aires)

The “Río de La Plata region” that encompasses the area of influence of the Río de la Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina) was shaped in the last centuries as a space of rural exploitation where the ranch, “estancia,” as a productive unit, played a central role. The original landscape of forests dominated by tala (Celtis tala Gillies ex Planch) and pastures was gradually modified by the introduction and multiplication of cattle and several plant species. Trees were central in the transformation of the landscape, shaping and delimiting spaces on the cattle ranches. In this paper we present the history of “Primera Estancia” (Magdalena, Buenos Aires) based on the analysis of documentary sources and their articulation with archaeological and ethnobiological information. This productive establishment was settled in the middle of the eighteenth century and it experienced changes in its conformation, extension, and productive orientation. Therefore, we can find different processes and mechanisms of delimitation and use of spaces with different functions, in which trees participated actively. Thus, we intend to review the long process of shaping the current landscape, to identify changes and continuities in the relationship of people with the trees, perceived by local inhabitants as part of their identity.