Incahuasi Regional Museum of Archaeology

Juan Bautista Alberdi 650
Tel. 0822-27310
Open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 to 12a.m.

Its halls exhibit objects belonging to the different cultures that inhabited the Argentine Northwest. This museum is run by the Franciscan Order and was founded by father Bernardino Gómez. It possesses over 9,000 classified pieces belonging to the Diaguita, Belén, Condorhuasi, Aguada and Santa María groups. Exhibits include ceramic, lithic and metalliferous material.
One of its halls is devoted to religious and colonial-style art, while another is dedicated to paleontology. It also houses a priceless exhibit, namely, a 'vuyuna', which is a counterweight formerly used on a spindle. It contains a written text that is considered to be the oldest in the world. These hieroglyphics, which are still being analyzed by specialists in archaic languages, date back to between 2,400 and 2,500 years B.C.. Phoenician script, the oldest writing know up to the present, dates back to 1,400 or 1,500 years B.C.. Another piece worthy of mentioning is a 6th century funerary urn belonging to the Aguada culture. In the courtyard, there are mortars and a 'maraí', a lithic object with holes in it that was used for pounding or crushing minerals. In the hall devoted to ceramics, there are very small figurines that are believed to have been amulets that Indians offered as tokens of love. There is also a votive fountain on exhibition belonging to the Alamito culture and several metal pieces.

La Rioja
The city of La Rioja, capital of the province with the same name, lies at the foot of the Sierra de Velasco. The characteristic features of a Spanish colonial city blend with an active and lively commercial center. It is located 1,167km. away from the city of Buenos Aires and lies 500m. above sea level. To reach this city one must travel down national route No. 9 up to the city of Córdoba and then take national route No. 38.