Different Means to Similar Ends: Convergent Paths of Intensification in the Prehistoric Great Basin and Central-Western Argentina

GIL, A; ZEANAH, D.

Lake Tahoe

Congreso; Great Basin Anthropological Conference; 2012

Great Basin Anthropological Conference

Great Basin and Central Western Argentina prehistories appear to have culminated in similar adaptations via different paths of intensification. While seeds and ground stone tools show-up in the Middle Holocene of the Great Basin, no comparable appearance occurs in Central Western Argentina until the early-Late Holocene. About the same time, the Central Western faunal assemblages shift from a preponderance of large game to a broader array of animals, but the reverse pattern occurs in the Great Basin. Nonetheless, foragers faced broadly similar environmental challenges in the two regions. We consider explanations for why intensification played out differently by contrasting the prehistoric context of the two areas.