Antofagasta de la Sierra is the northernmost
department of
Catamarca Province in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
The provincial subdivision has a population of about 1,300 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is
Antofagasta de la Sierra.
Volcanoes
The department is most famous for its volcanic activity. There are over 200 volcanos situated in the
Antofagasta de la Sierra volcanic field, the most notable of them being
Antofalla,
Carachi Pampa,
Alumbrera and
Galán.
The Galán volcano has the largest explosive
caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
in the world.
Pre-history
There is evidence of
hunter-gatherer people in the region dating back about 8,000 years. Their diet largely consisted of wild
camelid
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...
animals. Seeds of
amaranth grain dating from 4,500 years ago and evidence—grinding artefacts—that they may have been used as food since 7,000 years ago have been found.
References
External links
Antofagasta de la Sierra webpage(Spanish)
Departments of Catamarca Province
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