Lithic Technology and the use of Space during the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene transition in Imilac and Punta Negra basins, Atacama Desert (24,5°S)

Summary

Despite its extreme aridity, the Atacama Desert (18-25ºS) was not a biogeographical barrier during the period concerned with the early peopling of the area and of other regions in South America (12.6 ka). The Imilac and Punta Negra (24ºS) high altitude basins, located in the Precordillera of the Andes (3000 masl), are among the few micro-regions of the Atacama Desert which were continually occupied during the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene transition (12.6-10.2 ka). Results from the analyses of lithic assemblages recovered from archaeological sites and from raw material sources, are considered to support an early colonization model mainly centered on the procurement, transport, and technical management of lithic resources. Other lines of evidence such as isotopic, spatial (GIS), and water salinity analyses were also considered. Changes in technological strategies, mobility, and settlements were identified and discussed in frame of different human occupations phases. A cumulative process of landscape and resource distribution learning can be considered as key-factor in the changes observed in technology and spatial organization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Mobility and Use of Space in Late Pleistocene South America: Is it Possible to Discuss Early Human Regional Ranking?

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