Mobility and Use of Space in Late Pleistocene South America: Is it Possible to Discuss Early Human Regional Ranking?

Over the past decades significant advances have been achieved in the study of the initial peopling of South America. New sites have been discovered at both known and novel study areas and chronological data has been systematically gathered. However, once we recognize the distribution of sites throughout a landscape, the artifact assemblages, and the remains of the subsistence we must start to inquire what those contexts mean in a regional framework. What does resource selectivity tell us about the economical preferences of the first settlers? When did the earliest patterned movements started? It is possible to discuss spatial redundancy as opposed to places devoid of human presence? In sum, is it possible to discuss the organization of use of space and mobility for the initial stages of exploration of South American landscapes? The aim of this symposium is to bring together researchers working in different regions of South America to discuss use of space for the initial peopling of the continent. Among the main issues to be discussed are settlement models, site or region redundancy and/or avoidance, dispersal routes, procurement of raw materials as pointers of spatial organization, resource choices as indicative of environmental selection, spatial demarcation, and symbolic aspects.