From Los Tapiales to Cuncaicha: Terminal Pleistocene humans in America’s high-elevation western mountains

Summary

Among Ruth Gruhn’s remarkable archaeological accomplishments has been the investigation of the first truly high-elevation Paleoindian sites discovered in the Americas. The open-air camps of Los Tapiales and La Piedra del Coyote in the Guatemalan highlands, located respectively at 3150 and 3300 meters above sea level, contained fluted Fishtail projectile points and rich, diverse tool and flake assemblages. Importantly, both sites were securely dated to ~12,500 cal BP, indicating early use of high-alpine meadow habitats beyond the limit where low-oxygen conditions affect human physiology. Provenance analysis of Los Tapiales obsidian indicated acquisition from sources 50-75 km distant to the east and the west, suggesting long-distance mobility or exchange between diverse ecological zones.

Since Gruhn’s seminal publications on these Guatemalan highland sites, many early sites from America’s western mountains have come to light, from the Rockies, to the Central American Sierras, to the South American Andes. Among these, Cuncaicha in the high Andes of southern Peru has provided especially high-resolution data that enrich our understanding of early highland forager adaptations. There are more similarities than differences among these early sites in the western hemisphere’s highlands, a pattern that calls for greater archaeological attention to mountain landscapes and international collaboration.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Alternative Perspectives on the Peopling of the New World: A Symposium in Honor of Ruth Gruhn, the "First Lady" of First Americans Studies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17153