Late Quaternary Ecosystems and Humans in Northern Patagonia: New Results from Cueva Huenul 1 (Neuquén, Argentina)

M.DE LA. P. POMPEI; R. BARBERENA; M. E. DE PORRAS,; K. BORRAZZO; A. A. RUGHINI ; A. F. GIL

Current Research in the Pleistocne

CSFA. Texas A&M University

Lugar: Texas; Año: 2012 vol. 1 p. 187 - 190

The Cueva Huenul 1 (CH1) archaeological site has one of the first sequences of stratified sediments dating to the late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene transition in the northern end of Patagonia. Preliminary stratigraphic and chronological data previously reported define two sets of layers separated by an erosive unconformity. The late-Pleistocene layers (units VIII?V), mainly composed of fossil dung, are bracketed between dates of 13,844 ± 75 and 11,841 ± 56 rcybp; the Holocene layers (units IV?I), composed of aeolian sediment, are bracketed between dates of 9531 ± 39 and 1416 ± 37 rcybp (Barberena et al. 2010). The 9531 ± 39 date comes from a hearth directly on top of the unconformity and therefore is evidence for the earliest human presence at CH1. In this paper we report the results of a preliminary palynological and archaeological study of the stratigraphic units spanning the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.