ARCHAEOFAUNAL RECORD AND HUMAN OCCUPATION DURING THE MID HOLOCENE IN CENTRAL WEST OF ARGENTINA

NEME, G.; GIL, A.

VANCOUVER

Congreso; ANNUAL MEETING SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY; 2008

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeological and paleoenvironmental data suggest that the middle Holocene in this region was a time of resource scarcity. It appears that groups of hunter-gatherers responded to this period of heightened environmental aridity by seeking refuge in the most well-watered natural settings, abandoning the drier, more marginal environments that they had previously occupied. In this paper, we explore the archaeological record of west-central Argentina using radiocarbon tendencies and archaeofaunal data, considered in conjunction with paleoenvironmental information.  We propose a pronounced variability in human response to these conditions across west-central Argentina.