Late Holocene in southern Mendoza (northwestern Patagonia): radiocarbon pattern and human occupation

NEME GUSTAVO; GIL ADOLFO; DURAN VICTOR

Before Farming

WAS PRESS

Lugar: Liverpool; Año: 2005 vol. 2005 p. 1 - 18

1476-4253

This paper explores how hunter-gatherers occupied Northern Patagonia during the last 4000 years.This topic is analysed by putting radiocarbon trends in correlation with ecological differences between southern Mendoza areas and palaeoenvironmental context. The region is basically arid-semiarid, with a significant environmental diversity. We propose that the heterogeneity in the human biogeography of Northern Patagonia is related to its ecological characteristics, for instance, areas such piedmont and intermountain valley have significant differences, in terms of resource productivity, compared with extra-cordillerean valleys, La Payunia and high Cordillera. These environmental defferences have influenced human occupation, exploration time, colonisation and stabilisation. This pattern could be explained as response to differential resource structure between areas in this region. At c 2000 years BP all southern Mendoza has evidence of human use, but with differences in biogeographical phase (sensu Borrero 1989).