Changes in the archaeological record of central and southern Patagonia (Argentina) during the late Holocene

RINDEL, DIEGO DAMIAN; GOÑI, RAFAEL AGUSTÍN; GARCÍA GURAIEB, SOLANA; CASSIODORO GISELA; TESSONE, AUGUSTO; RE, ANAHÍ; J. M. DELLEPIANE; FLORES CONI, JOSEFINA; CASSIODORO, G, D. RINDEL, R. GOÑI, A. RE, A. TESSONE, S. GARCÍA GURAIEB, J. BELARDI, S. ESPINOSA, A. NUEVO DELAUNAY, J. DELLEPIANE, J. FLORES CONI, F. GUICHÓN, C. MARTÍNEZ Y S. PASQUALINI; RINDEL, D. TT BOURLOT CC MARTÍNEZZ II RAPELA Y SS PASQUALINII; AGNOLÍN A.; GUICHÓN FERNÁNDEZ, R

Burgos

Congreso; XVII Congreso Mundial de la UISPP; 2014

Fundación Atapueca-Unión Internacional de Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques

Relative to previous moments, the Late Holocene in Patagonia appears as a less humid environmental period. Nonetheless, this phenomenon registers local variations linked to the characteristics of specific environments, particularly their positions in the altitudinal, latitudinal and longitudinal gradients. These conditions would have necessarily had an impact in the strategies developed by the hunter gatherers groups that occupied this space. The aim of this presentation is to evaluate the changes in the archaeological record of Central and Southern Argentinian Patagonia, specifically the macro-region limited by the Chubut river in the north (44o S) and the Santa Cruz river to the south (51o S). Different lines of archaeological evidence will be considered: technology, archaeofauna, stable isotopes, bioarchaeology, rock art and archaeobotany. In our study area -Central-Western Santa Cruz province-, the analysis of these lines of inquiry have led to the identification of recurrent patterns and changes in the archaeological record. These are related both to spatial (plateaus, high and low altitude basins, steppe and woodlands) and temporal aspects (Middle, Initial Late and Final Late Holocene). In general terms, the Late Holocene is characterized by changes in the composition of different aspects of the archaeological record, namely, the incorporation of new technologies (pottery and structures), new artifact and motifs designs, new animal species in the archaeofaunal assemblages, changes in the human burial types and their sex-age composition, among others. Also, variations in the distribution and density of this record are observed, specially linked to the ecological characteristics and the altitude of the different sectors. On the basis of this information, the hunter-gatherers mobility and land use models proposed for the study area have been corroborated. These models pose a reduction of residential mobility, a concentration of settlements in low sectors and a logistical and seasonal use of high lands. This presentation seeks to expand this discussion and to compare the observed trends in a broader space scale. To achieve this, the data sets generated by our research team will be considered alongside information published by other teams working in the defined macro-region