Tackling the Early Holocene Record in Patagonia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The early Holocene archaeological record in Patagonia has always been elusive. It is often recorded as layers within multi-component cave sites where archaeological and natural materials accumulate. However ordered the layering, careful the excavation techniques, or large the quantity of radiocarbon dates, such sites are complex to interpret due to site redundancy, human/carnivore alternation, and the contribution of multiple sources of sediments, among others. Here we report a single-component early Holocene site around an erratic in a fluvial/glacial valley east of the Northern Ice Field of Central West Patagonia. The Doble Lili rock shelter features occupations spanning 9000 to 8300 cal BP in a continuous deposit extending beneath the rock, as well as open to the air. Lithic material includes both local and exotic (obsidian) tools and is diversified enough to suggest multiple activities consistent with a moderate-span occupation. Faunal material is infrequent, but indicates primarily the consumption of guanaco, the largest extant mammal in the region. This new site features no overlaying occupations as is the case with other records of the same age in the region and the vicinity. Hence, Doble Lili’s occupation is a reliable example of an early Holocene occupation in terms of assemblages, function, and chronology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Radiocarbon Date: 9000 to 8000 (cal BP)

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35852.0

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