Geoarchaeology of the Middle río Negro valley: Deciphering the Archaeological context in North Patagonia (Argentine)

LUCHSINGER, H. ; L. PRATES

Salt Lake

Congreso; 70th Annual Meeting for SAA (Society for American Archaeology); 2005

SAA

The Rio Negro, the largest river in southern South America, lies on the boundary between the Pampas and Patagonia. Although a potentially rich location for human settlement during the Holocene, this region has been investigated only recently. Survey and excavation of the middle Rio Negro Valley have revealed a substantial archaeological record for the Holocene in addition to a complex stratigraphic record. Geoarchaeological fieldwork was conducted to reconstruct the landscape and paleoenvironmental history during human occupation. This allowed investigators to evaluate site formation processes, site representation, settlement patterns, and detect potential human responses to climate change.