Stron um narra ves: scales of human paleomobility and excep onal journeys through the southern Andes and deserts of Argen na and Chile

BARBERENA, RAMIRO; TESSONE, AUGUSTO; LLANO, CARINA; DURÁN, VÍCTOR; NOVELLINO, PAULA; MARSH, ERIK; GASCO, ALEJANDRA; FRIGOLÉ, CECILIA; SANTANA-SAGRADO, FRANCISCA; LE ROUX, PETRUS

Karratha

Congreso; Southern Deserts 5: Desertscapes. Adapting to Arid Landscapes: developing new narratives of environ- mental change and human-environmental relationships within the great deserts of the southern hemisphere.; 2018

The University of Westerna Australia

In this presenta on we reconstruct the spa al scales and ecological complementarity between deserts and highlands in the southern Andes of Argen na and Chile (321⁄4-341⁄4S) during the last 2300 years by means of stron um isotopes (87Sr/86Sr). Radiogenic stron um isotope values vary according to bedrock age and composi on and can be used to infer the geographic sources of dietary stron um, hence revealing human movements between geologically dis nct areas. The isotopic analysis of human ssues formed during di erent age periods allows characterizing the life histories of individuals. We present a geological framework for the analysis of bioavailable stron um based on the combina on of the geological data with iso- tope results for plant and faunal samples. The 87Sr/86Sr values from human samples indicate residen al stability within geological regions along life history. When comparing stron um and oxygen values for the same human samples, we record a divergent pa ern: while_18O values for samples from distant regions overlap widely, there are important di erences in 87Sr/86Sr values. Despite the large socio-economic changes recorded, 87Sr/86Sr values indicate a persis ng scenario of low systema c mobility between the di erent geological regions. Our results suggest that stron um isotope values provide the most germane means to track pa erns of human occupa on of dis nct regions in complex geological landscapes.