Arqueología

This paper presents a synthesis of geological, geochemical, and archaeological information for the Huenul
obsidian source located in northern Patagonia (Neuquén Province, Argentina). Important information
recently published on other obsidian sources in the South-Central Andes of Argentina and Chile provide the
context for this endeavor, allowing evaluation of the role of this lithic source within the network of human
mobility and interaction on different spatial scales. It is suggested here that Huenul obsidian is genetically
related with the Tilhué Formation, already been mapped in detail. This regional information provides
a search model for geoarchaeological surveys. This raw material displays a remarkable supra-regional
distribution in the archaeological record, although it is regionally under-represented. Three alternative
hypotheses explaining the distribution of Huenul obsidians allow evaluation of technological decisions,
marginal vs. nuclear role of certain spaces for past human societies, and territorial organization.

This paper presents a synthesis of geological, geochemical, and archaeological information for the Huenul obsidian source located in northern Patagonia (Neuquén Province, Argentina). Important information recently published on other obsidian sources in the South-Central Andes of Argentina and Chile provide the context for this endeavor, allowing evaluation of the role of this lithic source within the network of human mobility and interaction on different spatial scales. It is suggested here that Huenul obsidian is genetically related with the Tilhué Formation, already been mapped in detail. This regional information provides a search model for geoarchaeological surveys. This raw material displays a remarkable supra-regional distribution in the archaeological record, although it is regionally under-represented. Three alternative hypotheses explaining the distribution of Huenul obsidians allow evaluation of technological decisions, marginal vs. nuclear role of certain spaces for past human societies, and territorial organization.

A través del análisis de disponibilidad y explotación de recursos líticos, se exploran características de la ocupación del límite
argentino-chileno. El área se localiza en el NO de San Juan (Argentina) y comprende desde el límite de vertientes cordilleranas
(4.500 msm) hasta los valles próximos (3.700 msm). Se definen patrones espaciales para el uso de estos ambientes considerando:
variaciones altitudinales, caracterización de fuentes de materias primas líticas y actividades de talla asociadas. Los sectores más
altos, con fuentes primarias, muestran estadios iniciales de la secuencia reductiva y menor densidad de elementos líticos. Los sectores
más bajos muestran altas densidades y secuencias completas asociadas a fuentes secundarias. Se elaboran propuestas preliminares
sobre los patrones temporales de ocupación considerando la composición del registro lítico en un sitio con una secuencia de ca.
9.000 años y los datos paleoambientales disponibles. Según esta aproximación, el área habría sido explorada luego de la última
retirada de los hielos. Las ocupaciones humanas sucesivas coinciden temporalmente con períodos de disponibilidad hídrica en
cordillera y aridez en altitudes menores de la vertiente occidental. Teniendo en cuenta las características topográficas, el registro
arqueológico y los datos paleoambientales, se propone que el área habría sido explotada desde esa vertiente.

Through an analysis of the availability and exploitation of lithic resources, characteristics of human occupations in the Argentinean-
Chilean boundary are discussed. The area is located in NW San Juan (Argentina) and extends from the edge of the mountain range
slopes (4,500 masl) to the nearby valleys (3,700 masl). We define spatial patterns for the use of these environments considering:
altitudinal variation, characterization of lithic raw material sources, and associated knapping activities. The higher areas, with
primary sources, evidence the first lithic reduction sequence stages and a lower density of elements. The lower sections show high
densities and complete sequences associated with secondary sources. We elaborate a preliminary record of occupation, through
a consideration of the lithic record at a site with a ca. 9,000-year sequence and available paleoenvironmental data. According
to this approach, the area would have been explored after the last retreat of the ice. Successive human occupations coincide with
periods of water availability in the high cordillera and aridity at lower altitudes on the western slopes. Given the topography of
the area, the archaeological record, and paleoenvironmental data, is proposed that the area would have been exploited from bases
on the mountain western flanks.

The study area, located in northwestern San Juan Province, Argentina, extends from the
western slopes of the Andes (4500 masl) to valleys immediately to the east (3700 masl). Farther
east, in neighboring Argentina, another mountain range rises with higher elevations than that
on the international border; in fact, the western slope of the Andes has very accessible routes
from the valleys that reach the coast (Figure 1).
The site Arq. 18 (3761 masl) is a cave/rockshelter located in a small glacial valley with a
meadow and stream that drains into the Las Taguas River. Besides enjoying an environment
rich in biotic and abiotic resources, the site is located along a natural access route to the Andean
divide. The deposit that formed the cave and rockshelter, used as a natural refuge throughout
the Holocene, is a conglomerate that likely was eroded in a glaciofluvial environment. Our
2-m2 excavation was on the slope below the cave’s eave and reached almost 50 levels deep,
each level 5 cm thick. The chronological sequence was obtained from 18 conventional and
AMS radiocarbon dates that fall between 9000 and 1500 rcybp, comprising five components
of occupation, which are defined by very clear stratigraphic features and dates from the top
and bottom of each component

The present work supports the idea that the archaeological record constitutes a valid approach to understand the relationship between humans and environment. It not only constitutes a paleoecological record because of the recovery of biological evidences associated to human occupations but due to the fact that humans themselves are significant components of past ecosystems. In other words, the understanding of human occupations implies the comprehension of making decisions within a particular environmental context . If we accept humans as components of the ecosystem, there are several available theoretical and methodological backgrounds that allow the understanding of past systems, which range from ecological evolutionary approaches to landscape archaeology. Human paleoecology allows to explore and comprehend the variability of the archaeological record in terms of human strategies as well as to offer perspectives for the understanding of past processes. These approaches have also been denominated environmental archaeology .

The present work supports the idea that the archaeological record constitutes a valid approach to understand the relationship between humans and environment. It not only constitutes a paleoecological record because of the recovery of biological evidences associated to human occupations but due to the fact that humans themselves are significant components of past ecosystems. In other words, the understanding of human occupations implies the comprehension of making decisions within a particular environmental context . If we accept humans as components of the ecosystem, there are several available theoretical and methodological backgrounds that allow the understanding of past systems, which range from ecological evolutionary approaches to landscape archaeology. Human paleoecology allows to explore and comprehend the variability of the archaeological record in terms of human strategies as well as to offer perspectives for the understanding of past processes. These approaches have also been denominated environmental archaeology .

Interactions between human societies and the environment that they inhabit have been a controversial topic in archaeology for at least the past fifty years. Currently, modern theoretical approaches take this subject as a key issue in their research agenda. This paper presents a review of the main outcomes of several archaeological and multidisciplinary South American projects related to this theme. The case-studies discussed here are all located within arid settings, and can be grouped into three broad geographic areas: Puna (or Altiplano) of northwestern Argentina, Cuyo (west-central Argentina), and southern Patagonia. These regions cover a wide latitudinal range extending from 22° to 52° S. They were selected for comparison due to environmental similarities, and a common record of past climate impacts mainly related to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Although the impacts of these climatic changes were locally heterogeneous in their intensity and the quality of the available information is regionally variable, they provide a base-line for comparison and supra-regional integration.The integration of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data on this broad supra-regional spatial scale allows us to identify interesting historical trajectories associated with particular time periods. As an example, there are some spatial rearrangements of large populations during the MCA, in the three areas. Additionally, there are variable patterns in the changes associated with the different social contexts that impose specific demographic and economic constraints. Finally, this study sets the basis for new questions and provides a guide to the methodological and theoretical issues that we need to address in order to answer them.

This paper explores the characteristics of human occupation in the area near the Argentine-Chilean international boundary, in the Andes cordillera (northwest of San Juan province). Characteristics of human occupation of these high altitude environments and changes in subsistence strategies that occurred during the Middle Holocene are evaluated. The study is based on the analysis of the materials at the site located in a seasonally environment rich in resources. The paper contributes to knowledge of the function and the variability of socio-cultural systems of the past in Andean environments in the southern part of the Northwest Argentina region (NOA). The problem is approached from studies of the organi- zation of lithic technology, and osteometric analysis recovered at the ARQ-18 site. These studies indicate changes in subsistence and technological strategies of human groups that occupied ARQ-18, incorpo- rating herding activities in a chronological range between 5100 and 4300 BP.

This paper explores the characteristics of human occupation in the area near the Argentine-Chilean international boundary, in the Andes cordillera (northwest of San Juan province). Characteristics of human occupation of these high altitude environments and changes in subsistence strategies that occurred during the Middle Holocene are evaluated. The study is based on the analysis of the materials at the site located in a seasonally environment rich in resources. The paper contributes to knowledge of the function and the variability of socio-cultural systems of the past in Andean environments in the southern part of the Northwest Argentina region (NOA). The problem is approached from studies of the organization of lithic technology, and osteometric analysis recovered at the ARQ-18 site. These studies indicate changes in subsistence and technological strategies of human groups that occupied ARQ-18, incorporating herding activities in a chronological range between 5100 and 4300 BP.