Verónica Zuccarelli Freire
Curriculum Vitae
Veronica Zuccarelli Freire holds both her undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropological Sciences and Archaeology, along with a professorial qualification in Anthropological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires. Beyond academia, she has worked as a Geographic Information Systems consultant for Argentina’s Ministry of Agriculture.
She is currently a Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (Jena, Germany) and an Assistant Researcher at IRES-CONICET/UNCA (Catamarca, Argentina). Her research focuses on agricultural practices and their historical and contemporary significance in the Andean and circum-Andean regions of northwestern Argentina. She investigates rural landscapes through a long-term perspective, applying a multidisciplinary toolkit that includes ethnography, archaeobotanical analyses, soil isotope studies, and spatial modeling.
In recent years, she has increasingly engaged in policy-making, scientific outreach, and UNFCCC processes. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Perspectives of the Anthropocene from the Global South initiative, which seeks to bring diverse voices into global climate debates. She also participates in the International Science Council’s Pilot Initiative on Science Advice for Public Policy in the Latin America and Caribbean Region.
Publications
Journal articles
Gastaldi, M. R., Zuccarelli Freire, V., Natalia, V., Gheco, L., Meléndez, A. S., Ferreyra, S., et al. (2025). Reconstructing pre-Columbian agrarian territorialities in the El Alto-Ancasti mountain range, Eastern NW Argentina. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, 4: 1679633. doi:10.3389/fearc.2025.1679633
ECHOES, Zuccarelli Freire, V. et al. 2024 Addressing the Anthropocene from the Global South: Integrating Paleoecology, Archaeology and Traditional Knowledge for COP Engagement. Front. Earth Sci. Sec. Geoscience and SocietyVolume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1470577
Roberts, P., Caetano-Andrade, V. L., Fisher, M., Hamilton, R., Rudd, R., Stokes, F., Amano, N., Antonosyan, M., Dugmore, A., Findley, D. M., Zuccarelli Freire, V. , Furquim, L. P., Fletcher, M.-S., Hambrecht, G., Heddell-Stevens, P., Iminjili, V., Jha, D. K., Jha, G., Kinyanjui, R. N., ... Isendahl, C. (2024). Uncovering the Multibiome Environmental and Earth System Legacies of Past Human Societies. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 49(1), 21-50. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-101257
Meléndez, A.S., Burry, S., Palacio,P., Trivi, M.E., Quesada, M.N., Zuccarelli, Freire, V., D'Antoni, H. (2023). Ecosystems dynamics and environmental management: An NDVI reconstruction model for El Alto-Ancasti mountain range (Catamarca, Argentina) from 442 AD through 1980 AD. Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 324, 2024,108450,ISSN 0277-3791 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108450.
Zuccarelli Freire, V., Meléndez, A. S., Rodriguez Oviedo, M., & Quesada, M. N. 2022. Erosion control in Prehispanic agrarian landscapes from Northwestern Argentina: El Alto-Ancasti Highlands case study (Catamarca, Argentina). Geoarchaeology, 1– 22. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21862
Zuccarelli Freire, V., Roberts, P., Meléndez, A.S., Tromp, M., Quesada, M. 2021. Managing environmental diversity in the eastern foothills of the Andes: Pre-Columbian agrarian landscapes in the El Alto-Ancasti mountain range. World Archaeology.
Eguia, Luciana, Prieto, Carolina, Zuccarelli, Verónica, Bocelli, Sebastián, & Gordillo, Inés. 2021. El paisaje virtual. Arqueología sin campo ni materia en tiempos de COVID. Revista práctica arqueológica, 4(1), 64–69. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4783988
Gordillo, I.;; Eguia, L.; Zuccarelli, V; Bocelli, S.;Letelier, J.M; Buono, H. 2021 Experiencias en la co-construcción del patrimonio en El Alto (Catamarca, Argentina). Cadernos do Lepaarq.Pelotas: Universidade Federal de Pelotas. 2 vol.17 n°34. p - . issn 2316 8412
Gheco, l., Zuccarelli Freire, V.; Meléndez, s.; Quesada, M .2020. El otro arte rupestre de El Alto-Ancasti: los conjuntos de grabados y su articulación en el paisaje. MUNDO DE ANTES .14(1):111-139. ISSN 2362-325X (Online)
Quesada,M., Zuccarelli Freire, V., Gheco, L., Gastaldi, M., Boscatto, S. 2017. Paisaje y experiencia en Oyola a finales del primer milenio D.C. (Dpto. El Alto, Catamarca). Comechingonia Revista de Arqueologia. Córdoba: Centro de Estudios Históricos "Profesor S. A. Segreti". 20 (2): 13 - 42. ISSN 0326-7911.
Zuccarelli Freire, V. 2014. Primeras aproximaciones al paisaje agrario del norte de la Sierra El Alto-Ancasti: un análisis multi-escalar. Revista Arqueología.Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires. 20: 116 - 141. ISSN 1853-8126.
Vaquer, J.M., Calomino, E. A., Zuccarelli Freire, V. 2010. Habitando Cruz Vinto: Temporalidad y Espacialidad en un pukara del Periodo de Desarrollos Regionales Tardío (1200 - 1450 DC) en el Norte de Lípez (Potosí, Bolivia). Revista Arqueología. Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, UBA. 16: 13 -33. ISSN 0870-2306.
Books
Zuccarelli Freire, V. 2012 Arqueología de los paisajes agrarios Surandinos: aplicación de los SIG en el análisis de la problemática agraria en Catamarca oriental. Berlín: Editorial Académica Española. 2012. ISBN. 978-3-659- 02011-7
Book chapters
Gordillo, I., Eguía, L., Zuccarelli Freire, V. 2017. Las casas del sol naciente. Arqueología de la vertiente oriental de El Alto - Ancasti. In: Arqueología de la Vertiente oriental Surandina Interacción macro-regional, materialidades, economía y ritualidad (Ventura, B., Ortiz, G., Cremonte, B., Eds). Sociedad Argentina de Antropología. Pp. 111 - 131. ISBN 978-987-1280-32-2