Archaeology and Palaecology in Northern Patagonia: Research Design and Supra-Regional Integration

R. BARBERENA; M. E. DE PORRAS; A. F. GIL

Valdivia, Chile

Simposio; II International Symposium PAGES “Reconstructing Climate Variations in South America and the Antarctic Peninsula over the last 2000 years; 2010

Pages

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Northern Neuquén (Patagonia, Argentina) constitutes a void of archaeological information within the context of current knowledge on the Holocene human peopling of South America. The project presented here is intended to bridge this gap by contributing archaeological and palaeoecological data for the Late Pleistocene - Late Holocene period. We will produce chronological results for characterizing diachronic patterns of human presence, and palaecological information from rodent middens and cave deposits to analyze the climatic fluctuations at a local scale. Then, at a supra-regional level, these results will be integrated with palaeoclimatic archives from both sides of the Andes, including northwestern Neuquén (Mallín Vaca Lauquen), southern Mendoza (Laguna El Sosneado, fluvial stratigraphic sequences), and Central Chile (i.e., Laguna de Tagua Tagua, Laguna Aculeo, marine cores). Archaeological evidences indicate that human populations living east and west of the Andes were socially articulated, with important temporal and behavioral variation. Given that these spaces operate in association with different climatic regimes, and may eventually act in a decoupled fashion, it is necessary to produce palaeoclimatic reconstructions at an equivalent spatial scale. On this basis, a comprehensive evaluation of the Holocene climate-human dynamics can be achieved.