Collapsed Rockshelters in Patagonia

BORRERO, L.A., R. BARBERENA, F.M. MARTIN Y K. BORRAZZO

Lisboa, Portugal

Congreso; XV Congress UISPP; 2006

International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences

Rockshelters may have been places used only during short periods, but their sequences still produced the basic archaeological framework for several American regions. Patagonia is one of those cases. Sequential changes occurred at many rockshelters, including the reduction of sheltered space produced by sedimentation and roof fall. These changes were important determinants of the human selection of those locales. Places that offered protection against wind and rain in the past ended as accumulations of rocks that were no longer attractive for human habitation. A review of cases in Southern Patagonia is presented, as well as some implications for our understanding of the archaeological record.