Cultural and enviromental evolution in the Meridional Sector of the Puna of Atacama during the Holocene.

OLIVERA, DANIEL; TCHILINGUIRIAN, PABLO; DE AGUIRRE, MARÍA JOSÉ

Section 17: Préhistoire de l?Amérique/ American Prehistory. C 17.1: Change in the Andres: Origins of Social Complexity, Pastoralism and Agriculture

BAR

Lugar: Oxford, UK; Año: 2006; p. 7 - 15

The main objective of this research is analyze the evolution of the paleo environment in the Puna of Atacama and its relationship with the resources availability for the archaeological human groups. The interest is focalized in new and important paleo ecological and archaeological record in the direction of  produce models to understand the relationships between both climatic and cultural changes at a micro and macro regional levels. The research area involve sectors of the Antofagasta de la Sierra (Catamarca Province) with a very bad previous knowledge in a archaeological and paleo environmental point of view. In direction to obtain the record and testing the hypothesis we proposed a cross-disciplinary study with  methods and techniques from archaeological, geological and biological sciences, but in an adequate and integrated approach. This research produced important new record which contributed to increment the basic scientific knowledge about the environment and the archeology of arid zones, but also would help to the present agropastoralist regional economy of the people in the Puna.