Reviewing Human-Environment Interactions in Arid Regions of Southern South America during the Past 3000 Years

M. MORALES; R. BARBERENA; J. B. BELARDI; L. BORRERO; V. CORTEGOSO; V. DURAN; A. GUERCI; R. GONI; A. GIL; G. NEME; H. YACOBACCIO; M. ZARATE

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Elsevier

Lugar: Nueva York, USA; Año: 2009 vol. 281 p. 283 - 295

0031-0182

Interactions between human societies and the environment that they inhabit have been a controversial topic in archaeology for, at least, the past fifty years. Currently, modern theoretical approaches take this subject as a key issue in their research agenda. This paper presents a review of the main outcomes of several archaeological and multidisciplinary South American projects related to this theme. The case-studies discussed here are all located on arid settings, and can be grouped in three broad geographic areas: Puna (or Altiplano) of Northwestern Argentina, Cuyo (West-Central Argentina), and Southern Patagonia. These regions represent arid environments on a wide latitudinal range extending from 22° to 52° S. They were selected for comparison because of some general current environmental similarities, and a shared record of the past impact of important Late Holocene climatic fluctuations, mainly the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Although these shifts are locally expressed with differing intensity, and the quality of the available information is regionally variable, they provide a basis for comparison and supra-regional integration.   The integration of archaeological and paleoenvironmental data on this large supra regional spatial scale allows us to identify interesting historical trajectories associated to particular time periods. As an example, there are some large populations’ spatial rearrangements during MCA times in the three areas. Besides, there are also variable patterns of change associated to the different social contexts where these processes take place that impose specific demographic and economic constraints. Finally, this study forms the basis for new questions and provides a guide on the methodological and theoretical issues we need to take into account in order to answer them.