Early Occupations of the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene in the Northern Highlands of the Semiarid North of Chile

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Here, we present the results of archaeological surveys and excavations carried out in the Pedernales Salt Flat and the upper course of the Jorquera River (26°–27° S, 3,000–4,500 m asl). Environmentally, they are characterized by an Andean steppe with biotic resources distributed in patches. Surveys were directed toward specific geoforms such as river terraces, alluvial fans, wetlands, and salt flat surroundings. As result, high abundance and diversity of archaeological findings were detected, evidencing human occupations related to the most favorable environmental and climatic conditions during the late Pleistocene-early Holocene. Evidence, particularly from the lithic record, enables to establish links with contemporary cultural traditions in neighboring areas. These include Huentelauquén Cultural Complex (12,600–8000 years cal BP) on the semiarid coast, Tuina Inca-Cueva Complex of the de Atacama Salt Flat Basin (13,000–9500 years cal BP) and the findings of Punta Negra-1 (12,600–10,200 years cal BP) of the Arid North, among others. Finally, we discuss the recorded evidence according to the paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological context. We propose that the highlands were far from being marginal and unattractive environments for the groups of hunter-gatherers that populated this region during the initial phases of exploration and colonization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32683