Early human occupations in Western Santa Cruz Province, Southernmost South America (original) (raw)
Related papers
Mainly represented by " fishtail " or Fell points (~11,000-10,000 uncalibrated years BP), Paleoindian remains in Uruguay are distributed over a wide area. However, just a few stratified sites have yielded evidence of the earliest settlers in this part of South America. Cueva Amarilla was discovered as a result of an intensive survey conducted in the Lavalleja department. Because cave sites in Uruguay are scarce, an evaluation of its archaeological potentiality was performed. Lithic artifacts and charcoal were exhumed from its sedimentary deposits. A sample of the latter yielded a conventional radiocarbon date of 10,000 uncalibrated years BP. This date suggests that Cueva Amarilla witnessed an occupation during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, which was thus Paleoindian. This date agrees well with the time-span of the Fell occupation in South America in general, and particularly in southern Uruguay. Therefore, this level might have belonged to hunter-gatherer colonizers who used " fishtails " as part of their weaponry. In this regard further " fishtail " points data as well the specimens coming from neighboring departments are reported. In the study area, and around the cave, there are ubiquitous primary and secondary sources of lithic raw materials, mainly significant outcrops of a point finds from the region, are discussed within the framework of the colo-nization process of South America.
Quaternary
Archaeological excavations at the Cueva del Medio performed during the 1980s and 1990s yielded an important record of both faunal and stone tool remains, as well as data, to discuss issues that occurred during the Terminal Pleistocene. Due to that, the shaped Paleoamerican artifacts collected in the author’s excavations were partially informed. The present article provides unpublished data on the field-work, the results of a techno-morphological analysis of the stone tools, and considerations about early hunter-gatherer societies along with their regional paleo-environmental interactions, as well other topics regarding the regional archaeological process during the last millennium of the Pleistocene. Findings from there have been extremely useful for discussing diverse paleo-ecological and archaeological topics and have extended the knowledge and discussions about different Pleistocene scientific issues, mainly related with flora, fauna, and the colonization of southern Patagonia.
On April 21, 2012, the symposium “Early lithic technologies in South America: Beyond regional projectile point typologies” was held at the 77th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) in Memphis, Tennessee. Seven articles presented in that symposium are gathered in this special issue of Chungara Revista de Antropología Chilena. Colored by the blues mood of the city and the magnificent smell of Memphis barbecue, it appeared from the start that this session had high aims. Early lithic technological studies in South America and elsewhere for years had been devoted to the description of attributes on specific formal tools and their relations in the axes of time and space. As such, the establishment of projectile point typologies using site provenience data has been a chief orientation in the analyses of the peopling of the Americas. However, these studies are geographically scattered, and currently there are few consistent discussions related to the reliability of specific tool types as temporal or cultural markers. This situation is aggravated by the fact that, contrary to North America, in South America the archaeological record from the Pleistocene to Holocene transition is characterized by apparent greater regional variability in lithic technology. No single projectile point type dominates the continent, most technologies are significant in a regional environmental scope, and many assemblages contain primarily informal short-lived tools. This South American characteristic has been elegantly articulated by Luis Borrero (2006) in his: “Paleoindians without Mammoths and Archaeologists without Projectile Points?” article. Thus far, the early peopling of South America appears as a more diversified process than that of North America, with a marked absence of pan-continental projectile point styles such as Clovis. A major question moving the participants of the session was: What does this greater technological variability signify? New research from throughout South America prompts a review of existing data and a synthesis of new advances. The SAA session aimed to gather current research on the spatial distribution and chronological associations of early lithic assemblages, regional raw material selection and procurement practices, differential representation of reduction sequences/stages at sites, possible relationships between bifacial assemblages and other designs, and the roles of early lithic technologies in subsistence and settlement patterns. Speakers from different countries gathered in order to shed light on regional variability and to illustrate different methodological approaches. Each participant or group of participants presented their up-to-date syntheses of regional lithic technological research problems and ways in which they have worked to solve them. The second major achievement was to collect the symposium contributions into this Chungara issue. In order to encourage greater interaction, papers have been written in English and Spanish, in order to promote dialogue among those working on lithic technological problems in South America, North America, and elsewhere. We acknowledge the commentaries of the two symposium discussants, Nora Franco and David Anderson, who have kindly agreed to contribute to this number. The original impetus for the SAA session and this number has been creating venues for sharing current developments and thinking on the early peopling of South America. Gathering together researchers from a wide variety of places, disciplinary traditions, and experiences has been motivated by the idea of listening to each other and writing down our results. After all, those of us working on the early settlement of America are united by one of the colonized places on earth.
Quaternary International, 2017
This article discusses new data on the initial peopling of Central Western Patagonia based on research conducted at the Cueva de la Vieja site (45 16 0 27 00 S; 71 32 0 24 00 W, 718 masl), contextualizing this event it in the broader Pleistocene human dispersal of southernmost South America. Archaeological excavations and analyses at this cave site were undertaken to address the chronology of the initial settlement of the region, characteristics of the first human presence and subsequent site redundancy. This paper includes a description of the site context based on macro-and microscopic stratigraphy of the excavated section, the characterization of anthropogenic features and a comprehensive radiocarbon-dating program. Archaeological assemblages (i.e., lithics, bones and charred seeds) are used to explain the variations in the human occupation of this venue, with particular emphasis on the earliest materials and occupational surfaces as well as post-depositional processes. The occupation events at Cueva de la Vieja span the last 12,000 calibrated years and indicate, at this point, the earliest securely dated human presence in Central-Western Patagonia, at least one millennium after other thoroughly-dated sites toward the east. This suggests that the initial settlers must have occupied the eastern flank of the Andes at this latitude only after glaciers and other glaciogenetic features retreated and viable ecosystems emerged.
Archeological Hunter-Gatherer Landscapes Since the Latest Pleistocene in Fuego-Patagonia
Developments in Quaternary Science, 2008
This chapter deals with the available archeological knowledge, building a history of the peopling, the mobility of human groups and their relationship with the environment until the arrival of the Europeans. This chapter focuses on Patagonia—both east and west of the Andean ranges—and examines the archeological contexts and available radiocarbon dates for three chronological intervals: (1) the Pleistocene, (2) the Middle Holocene, and (3) the Late Holocene. Six main issues have been considered in the analysis of the peopling of Patagonia's landscapes: (1) the most important environmental conditions that could have affected human occupation during each interval; (2) the chronological gaps, visible through the analysis of radiocarbon data; (3) the generalist or specialist adaptations in the use of faunal resources; (4) the rock art; (5) the human burials; and (6) the allochthonous raw materials. Extreme environmental conditions during the latest Pleistocene would have been the scenario under which the first human groups entered the continent. But these harsh circumstances did not threaten them to begin the exploration and colonization of the new available lands.
Archaeological excavations at the Cueva del Medio performed during the 1980s and 1990s yielded an important record of both faunal and stone tool remains, as well as data, to discuss issues that occurred during the Terminal Pleistocene. Due to that, the shaped Paleoamerican artifacts collected in the author's excavations were partially informed. The present article provides unpublished data on the fieldwork , the results of a techno-morphological analysis of the stone tools, and considerations about early hunter-gatherer societies along with their regional paleo-environmental interactions, as well other topics regarding the regional archaeological process during the last millennium of the Pleistocene. Findings from there have been extremely useful for discussing diverse paleo-ecological and archaeological topics and have extended the knowledge and discussions about different Pleistocene scientific issues, mainly related with flora, fauna, and the colonization of southern Patagonia.
The main focus of this work is the proposition of an archaeological sequence for marine hunter-gatherers in Southernmost Patagonia, based on the recent study of different coastal archaeological sites in the Magellan Strait, Otway Sea and Almirante Montt Gulf, located between 50º and 53º South latitude. This includes discussing timing, changes and cultural traditions during the Holocene within three sets of technological and economic features grouped in consecutive time blocks and characteristic cultural material assemblages: a) Early period (7400–6200 cal. years BP), b) Intermediate period (4900–2350 cal. BP) and c) Late period (<1500 cal. BP). Discriminating archaeological elements of each assemblage are related with lithic and bone industries, both instrument design and manufacturing techniques, as well as trends of different use of raw materials. Modern research has raised the discussion that these Patagonian populations were characterized by a marked homogeneity, stability and cultural continuity, assuming that technological changes could be explained as minor or irrelevant modifications and/or innovations occurring through time. We argue that differences express changes that are best understood when considering the presence of different cultural traditions, based on variations in information circulation, social interaction and their spatial scale of distribution over time. In turn this can be related to exchange or transport of artifacts, ideas or knowledge and people.
Down to the Bone: Tracking Prehistoric Bone Technology in Southern Patagonia
Bone technology appeared relatively early in the Patagonian archeological record. It appears in two different contexts. In the insular area (Magellanic channels and Tierra del Fuego) it is found in association with maritime littoral adaptations (Orquera and Piana 1999). Here it is very abundant and it includes high variability of raw materials and designs (Scheinsohn 1997). In continental Patagonia, on the contrary, bone tools are scarce but nevertheless recorded in every site. As a result of this apparent scarcity, no attention was devoted to bone tools in continental Patagonia. Here I will look for bone technology in continental Southern Patagonia to detect whether experimentation with bone technology or early bone technology existed. To do so, I will describe bone tools from Cerro Casa de Piedra locality, specifically from Cerro Casa de Piedra 5 and 7 sites (CCP5 and CCP 7) and from Pali Aike Volcanic Field, specifically from Fell, Pali Aike (PA) and Cañadón Leona (CL)