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

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

Conferencia; 4TH Southern Deserts Conference; 2014

We assess temporal and spatial patterns of human occupation of high-altitude Andean deserts and neighboring areas over a large latitudinal range throughout the Holocene. Long-term research has been carried out in three latitudinal bands of the Andes that differ in their ecology, biogeography, and archaeology. We present a comparative endeavor of northern San Juan, north?central Mendoza, and northern Neuquén. These study area show diversity in subsistence modes across time and space, ranging from Andean agro-pastoralists in the north to Patagonian hunter-gatherers in the south. Synthesizing technological, geochemical, isotopic, morphometric and bio-archaeological data, we suggest the existence of continuities in the use of these environments as well as important changes along temporal and latitudinal gradients. Based on this synthesis, we assess variation in geographic vectors of human use of high altitude environments, assessing ?Pacific? vs. ?Atlantic? sources of human occupations, economic modes, and technological strategies. Considering paleoenvironmental archives, we also assess human responses to Holocene climatic shifts, such as mid-Holocene arid events and the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, among others.