mtDNA and the Peopling of Fuego Patagonia

Summary

Information regarding the prehistoric human migration into Southernmost Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego provides a baseline against which it is possible to compare interpretations regarding the colonization of the Americas, including its timing and rates of human dispersion. The earliest archaeological evidence in Fuego- Patagonia dates to the Late Pleistocene (c. 10.500 BP). By the Middle Holocene archaeological record (c. 8000-4000 BP) shows marked differences between the technological, economic, and cultural practices of inland and coastal peoples. These differences, indicate the presence of two divergent adaptations: nomad canoe/marine hunter-gatherers and pedestrian terrestrial hunters, although the archaeological record shows several complementary economies. To date, proposed migration routes into Fuego-Patagonia include the Pacific rim, the Atlantic coast, and inland or intermountain corridors. This study presents mtDNA results from 50 prehistoric individuals dated to ca. 6,000-390BP. The results identify three main haplogroups (C1, D1, and D4h3a) which distribution suggest the presence of at least two migration routes into the region, one through the inland and east of the Andes, and one through the coast, along the Pacific. The results agree with archaeological evidence, which reveal the sudden appearance of a marine adaptation strategy c.a. 6500BP.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21043