LA CONSTRUCCIÓN SOCIAL DEL ESPACIO MINERO: SINTAXIS DE LA ARQUITECTURA DOMÉSTICA EN EL NORTE DE MENDOZA (ARGENTINA)

The systematic archaeological study of two mining sites located in the central west of Argentina allows to know the living conditions of mining peoples. Here we discuss a comparative architectural analysis of buildings that operated between the middle 19th and early 20th centuries, within mining plans with different extractive purposes (silver, gold and schist). They maintained a resident population consisting of families or groups of workers. Through constructive and syntactic analyzes of space, with very little application in the region, we propose that the architecture in the mining sites functioned as an active object and a key input in the control strategies of its inhabitants. These were configured architecturally and spatially according to the economic interests of the owners of the means of production, who had the exploitation rights and therefore designed an architectural pattern “barracks type”, since it allowed the control of the accesses and roads of the place, increasing the enclosure, isolation and the segmentation of the spaces.