DOCUMENTING TO PROTECT: PARTICIPATORY INVENTORIES AS A STRATEGY AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF CULTURAL PROPERTY IN THE PUNA OF JUJUY

Abstract

The illicit trafficking of cultural property constitutes a critical threat to the artistic and ecclesiastical collections preserved in rural chapels of the Puna of Jujuy, where territorial dispersion, limited state presence, and the absence of updated inventories increase the vulnerability of these assets. The porosity of borders in triple-frontier territories facilitates the clandestine circulation of objects of historical, artistic, and religious value, making the availability of precise identification and control tools essential. Within this context, inventories play a central role not only in documenting the composition of the collections but also in assessing the conservation condition of each piece, identifying specific risks, and guiding preventive conservation actions aimed at ensuring their long-term safeguarding.

This article examines the implementation of the “Project for the Registration and Updating of Inventories of Artistic Heritage in Churches and Chapels of the Quebrada de Humahuaca and the Puna of Jujuy,” carried out between 2021 and 2023 by the Provincial Directorate of Heritage in coordination with the Prelature of Humahuaca, local municipalities, and the Technical Committee for the Fight Against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property. Based on the case studies of the churches of Tafna and Santa Catalina, the article presents the methodological criteria, work stages, and participatory dynamics through which technical knowledge was integrated with community-based understandings linked to ceremonial use and the symbolic value of the objects. The results demonstrate that participatory inventories constitute an effective tool for preventing illicit trafficking and for developing heritage management models that are sensitive to territorial conditions and to the community practices that give cultural assets their meaning and continuity.