CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PALEOENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES OF THE SOUTHERN MENDOZA: THA ARCAHEOLOGICLA PERSPECTIVE.

NEME, G., V. DURÁN, A. GIL Y V. CORTEGOSO

MALARGUE

Workshop; RECONSTRUCCIONES REGIONALES DE LAS VARIACIONES CLIMÁTICAS EN AMÉRICA DEL SUR DUARNTE EL HOLOCENO TARDÍO: UNA NUEVA INICIATIVA DE PAGES; 2006

PAGES/CRICYT

Archaeological record constitutes a valid approach to understand the relationship between humans and environment. It not only constitutes a paleoecological record because of the recovery of biological evidences associated to human occupations but due to the fact that humans themselves are significant components of past ecosystems. Human paleoecology allows to explore and comprehend the variability of the archaeological record in terms of human strategies as well as to offer perspectives for the understanding of past processes. It is showed a synthesis with the 14C trend related to archaeological record from the Mendoza. Whit this information and the environmental setting, human strategies are discussed. Aspects of human biogeography and development in different environments since 12.000 years BP are presented. Human adaptations to arid-semiarid high cordillera and lowland plain regions of southern Mendoza, and their relationships with environmental changes in the last 1000 years, are especially developed. The selected sites to illustrate land use and natural resource management by prehistoric societies are from Diamante lagoon, Atuel river valley, Llancanelo lagoon and Payunia. Considering their archaeological record, intensification strategies in subsistence (greater foraging efficiency in response to resource scarcity) and exchange with societies from the other side of cordillera are discussed. Cases of environmental information recovered (volcanic, archaeobotanic and faunistic record, pollen, etc) are presented. Understand human occupations imply the comprehension of making decisions within a particular environmental context and improve the knowledge about past human impact on regional ecosystems. Results of archaeological research guided by this perspective are presented in the poster. This studies involved research topics in zoo-archaeology, taphonomy, archaeobotanic, bioanthropology, and geoarchaeology. The best comprehension about the human strategies implies the incorporation of paleoenviroenmental information, and we propose tht the best environmental comprehension to the last 1000 years needs to include the human strategies too. A thesis is the hard core in the paleoecological agenda in the Mendoza region.