Radiocarbon Chronology of the Early Human Occupation of Argentina

PRATES, L.; G. POLITIS; J. STEELE.

QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2013 p. 104 - 122

1040-6182

During last three decades South American archaeology has generated a large body of information which has fuelled current debate on the early peopling of the Americas (e.g. Goebel et al. 2008; Salemme and Miotti; Dillehay 2009; Steele and Politis 2009). From the 1980s onwards, there have been not only numerous new archaeological sites reported and discussed, but also more sophisticated analyses of site formation processes and better dating methodology. This has allowed scientists to propose and validate macro-regional (continental) dispersal models, empirically grounded in multiple lines of evidences (e.g. Steele et al. 1998, Alroy 2001, Faught and Anderson 2000, Anderson and Gillam 2000). In order to assess general processes relating to the spread of early human populations in South America, we have initiated a comprehensive archaeological radiocarbon database of early South American sites. In this paper we communicate the first results of this project in relation with the 14C dates form Argentina, We will examine the spatial and temporal distribution of early radiocarbon dates (older than 7,000 14C years BP) in the light of current validation standards, and we will also discuss potential sampling biases affecting the record of first evidence of human occupation for each region of Argentina.