Continuity and Change in the Human Use of High-Altitude Andean Deserts between 29-36ºS (Argentina).

DURAN VICTOR; CORTEGOSO VALERIA; BARBERENA RAMIRO; GASCO ALEJANDRA; CASTRO SILVINA; FRIGOLÉ CECILIA; LUCERO GUSTAVO; MARSH ERIK; LLANO CARINA

Tunuyán, Mendoza

Congreso; 4º Southern Deserts Conference; 2014

CONICET-UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CUYO

We assess temporal and spatial patterns of human occupation in high-altitude Andean deserts and neighboring areas over a large latitudinal range throughout the Holocene. Long term research has been carried out in four latitudinal bands of the Andes that differ in their ecology, biogeography, and archaeology. This large study area shows diversity in subsistence across time and space, ranging from Andean agro-pastoralists in the north to Patagonian hunter-gatherers in the south. We track continuities in the use of these environments as well as important changes along temporal and latitudinal gradients.