Domestication and human demographic history in South America

PEREZ SERGIO IVAN; POSTILLONE MARÍA BÁRBARA; RINDEL DIEGO

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2017

0002-9483

Objectives: The early groups of hunter-gatherers who peopled South America faced significantecological changes in their trophic niche for a relatively short period after the initial peopling. Inparticular, the incorporation of cultigens during the Holocene led to a wider trophic niche andprobably to an increased carrying capacity of the environment. Here, we study the relationshipbetween the incorporation of domestic resources during the Holocene and the demographicdynamics of human populations at a regional scale in South America.Material and methods: We employ mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), radiocarbon data and Bayesianmethods to estimate differences in population size, human occupation and explore the demographicchanges of human populations in three regions (i.e., South-Central Andes, Northwest, andSouth Patagonia). We also use archaeological evidence to infer the main diet changes in theseregions.Results: The absolute population size during the later Late Holocene was fifteen times larger inthe South-Central Andes than in Northwest Patagonia, and two times larger in the latter regionthan in South Patagonia. The South-Central Andes display the earlier and more abrupt populationgrowth, beginning about 9000 years BP, whereas Northwest Patagonia exhibits a more slowgrowth, beginning about 7000?7500 years BP. South Patagonia represents a later and slower populationincrease.Discussion: In this work we uncovered a well-supported pattern of the demographic change inthe populations from South-Central Andes and Patagonia, obtained on the basis of different dataand quantitative approaches, which suggests that the incorporation of domestic resources wasparamount for the demographic expansion of these populations during the Holocene.