peopling of South America

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among…

Our results recapitulate the findings of previous research which indicate that present-day Peruvians carry a large component of Native American ancestry with varying proportions of admixture from other continental populations. In addition, we also find some differentiation between the Native American components of Highland, Jungle and Coastal populations. This is consistent with previous genetic and archaeological evidence which suggests multiple sources of ancestry for Indigenous peoples across Peru and the greater South American region. In this work we also test for differences in patterns of adaptation between human groups across each ecozone. Our preliminary findings suggest that signatures of selection differ between Coastal, Highland and Jungle populations. This suggests that differential selective pressures may have shaped the genetic diversity of present-day Peruvians. Moving forward, with this research we aim to elucidate local patterns of population structure, critically reassess existing models for the original peopling of the Andes, provide a better understanding of how ancient demographic processes shaped the genetic diversity of present-day Andean peoples, and lessen the underrepresentation of diverse populations in human genomics. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the study participants for providing samples.

Radiocarbon measurements of organic sedimentary deposits from the Quebrada de los Burros (Department of Tacna, Peru) permit the reconstruction of climate dynamics during the mid-Holocene (3200-8500 years BP).Two short debris flow events marks the beginning and the end of period of fine grain sedimentation processes. This period is contemporaneous with the presence of human settlements in the Quebrada.

We present new chronological data for the southernmost sector of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas system of central Argentina. Recent excavations at the Cueva Los Bancos site in Sierra del Morro hill provided a date of ca. 9400 calendar years ago. This is the earliest absolute chronology of this sector, considered an ecotone between mountains and plains. Data provided will allow us to include this site in the discussion of the initial peopling of the region.

This paper concentrates on archaeobotanical evidence for the adoption of plant cultivation in the forests in seven regions of Colombia. We present a synthesis and explanation of the evidence we currently have for the process that involved the adoption of plant cultivation and the development of food production in this area. The use of locally available plant foods in these forests is evident by the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. By the Middle Holocene, exogenous plant domesticates were added, including maize, manioc, and possibly common beans. We further explore available data on other proxies to discuss models to explain the transition from hunting and gathering to horticulture.

Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter's overhang. The bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the mid-Upper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, for example behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

The aim of this paper is to present a review of the data referred to some of the earliest Colombian archaeological sites, i.e. Tibitó 1, El Abra 2 and El Abra 3 (Cundiboyacense Plateau, Eastern Cordillera). The re-analysis of the lithic assemblages, according to a techno-typological approach referred to the lowest levels of these sites, traditionally considered the oldest and most significant sites of Colombia, has highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements in reference to the analysis of the lithic industry and the effective association between cultural elements and stratigraphy. Our review reveals that the evidence of human occupation of the oldest levels of these sites is reduced to a few artefacts, from which it is not possible to infer any kind of interpretation.

The aim of this paper is to present a review of the data referred to some of the earliest Colombian archaeological sites, i.e. Tibitó 1, El Abra 2 and El Abra 3 (Cundiboyacense Plateau, Eastern Cordillera). The re-analysis of the lithic assemblages, according to a techno-typological approach referred to the lowest levels of these sites, traditionally considered the oldest and most significant sites of Colombia, has highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements in reference to the analysis of the lithic industry and the effective association between cultural elements and stratigraphy. Our review reveals that the evidence of human occupation of the oldest levels of these sites is reduced to a few artefacts, from which it is not possible to infer any kind of interpretation.

This paper discusses how the Colombian prehistoric hunter-gatherers used, managed, and enhanced the productivity of tropical forests. San Isidro and Peña Roja foragers changed the ecosystem through forest clearing, selective planting, and quasi-domestication.

Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter's overhang. The bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the mid-Upper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, for example behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.

In this paper we present a review of the oldest lithic assemblages of Tibitó 1, El Abra 2, and El Abra 3 (Sabana de Bogotá, Eastern Cordillera), among the oldest and most significant sites in Colombia. The contribution of use-wear analysis on a controlled sample of materials confirms and adds new data to our previous technological review Muttillo et al. (2017. "Revisiting the Oldest Known Lithic Assemblages of Colombia: A Review of Data from El Abra and Tibitó (Cundiboyacense Plateau, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia)." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 13: 455-465). The results highlight some critical points and discrepancies with previous studies and interpretations.

Archaeological research over the past two decades in the Middle Cauca region of central Colombia has documented numerous preceramic sites dating from the terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene, along with substantial artifactual and archaeobotanical evidence for early plant use and food production. We present a radiocarbon chronology of 26 sites, including dates previously available only in unpublished reports, and 36 new AMS dates from 11 sites. This chronology solidly establishes the preceramic (before 3600 14 C BP) human occupation in the Middle Cauca. The earliest date clearly associated with cultural evidence of occupation is 10,619 ± 66 14 C BP at the site of Cuba. Four sites show occupation before 10,000 14 C BP, but between 10,000 and 9000 14 C BP, this number increases to eleven sites. Thereafter, despite evidence of episodic volcanic activity, there is a relatively constant and continuous sequence of human occupation in the region, although small localized population movements may have occurred. The fertility of periodically renewed andisols likely attracted settlement and continued occupation of the region by people practicing early plant cultivation, based on the archaeobotanical evidence for the early adoption and use of domesticates.

In this paper we present a revision of the lithic industries of El Abra sites (Sabana de Bogotá, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia), among the most ancient and significant sites of Colombia. Dated to 12,400 ± 160 years BP, El Abra is an important reference for the prehistory of the country. Our review mostly deals with the: a) methodological approach adopted for the study of the lithic industry; b) interpretation of the lithic industry; c) chrono-stratigraphy. In 2017, 2019 we presented the revision of the lithic assemblages of the oldest levels of El Abra sites (Muttillo et al., 2019, 2017); here we integrate and complete the revision with the analysis of the lithic assemblages of the upper levels. This is the first revision of the historical lithic collections, adopting a technological approach and crossing the data with the chrono-stratigraphic context. Our results have highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements contained in previous studies, that mostly affect not only the interpretation of the lithic industries but also the chronology of the site, that turned out to be more recent than previously assumed, for at least three thousand years.

In this paper we present a review of the oldest lithic assemblages of Tibitó 1, El Abra 2, and El Abra 3 (Sabana de Bogotá, Eastern Cordillera), among the oldest and most significant sites in Colombia. The contribution of use-wear analysis on a controlled sample of materials confirms and adds new data to our previous technological review Muttillo et al. (2017. "Revisiting the Oldest Known Lithic Assemblages of Colombia: A Review of Data from El Abra and Tibitó (Cundiboyacense Plateau, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia)." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 13: 455-465). The results highlight some critical points and discrepancies with previous studies and interpretations.

The aim of this paper is to present a review of the data referred to some of the earliest Colombian archaeological sites, i.e. Tibitó 1, El Abra 2 and El Abra 3 (Cundiboyacense Plateau, Eastern Cordillera). The re-analysis of the lithic assemblages, according to a techno-typological approach referred to the lowest levels of these sites, traditionally considered the oldest and most significant sites of Colombia, has highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements in reference to the analysis of the lithic industry and the effective association between cultural elements and stratigraphy. Our review reveals that the evidence of human occupation of the oldest levels of these sites is reduced to a few artefacts, from which it is not possible to infer any kind of interpretation.

En este artículo se presentan los principales datos y refl exiones asociados al poblamiento inicial del noroccidente de Sudamérica debido a su signifi cado estratégico en el marco continental, se destacará la variabilidad cultural y se enfatizarán los cambios de paisajes en el transcurso del tiempo. En Colombia existe muy poca información relevante relacionada con las ocupaciones anteriores a 12.000 AP; en contraste, la información es abundante en cuanto al número de contextos tempranos durante la transición Pleistoceno-Holoceno. La variabilidad entre los conjuntos líticos unifaciales y bifaciales reportados en distintas regiones fi siográfi cas plantea propuestas de modelos alternativos sobre el poblamiento temprano a escala regional. Considerando la importancia del valle interandino del río Magdalena, se recalcan los contextos arqueológicos e información paleoambiental. Asimismo, se destacan los impactos ambientales que demuestran por qué no perduraron las evidencias del Pleniglacial, lo que podría deberse a efectos asociados no solo al cambio climático global, sino, en particular, a causa del vulcanismo. Este trabajo resalta los hallazgos y cronologías de los conjuntos líticos bifaciales del valle del Magdalena en relación con la arqueología temprana del noroccidente de Sudamérica.

Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter's overhang. The bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the mid-Upper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, for example behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.

The northwestern corner of South America, represented by the current territory of Colombia, is a key region to assess some relevant issues linked with the initial human peopling of the area, including population dispersals, cultural diversity, and early adaptations to the changing environmental conditions experienced by lowland and highland north-Andean Neotropical ecosystems at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. The aim of this paper is to present a synthesis of the archaeological research about early peopling carried out in Northwest South America during the last four decades. Specifically, it will focus on the adaptive strategies and the cultural diversity patterns exhibited by the early hunter-gatherer groups that entered the region since late Pleistocene times. The classic ideas about the time of arrival of the first settlers, the dispersal routes, the incidence of the climate change in on the rate of dispersal and colonization of different habitats, and the role of the megafauna in the subsistence will be reviewed, prior to the formulation of new hypotheses about the meaning of the apparent intraregional diversity of the archaeological record and the evolution of economic strategies over time.

Archaeological research over the past two decades in the Middle Cauca region of central Colombia has documented numerous preceramic sites dating from the terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene, along with substantial artifactual and archaeobotanical evidence for early plant use and food production. We present a radiocarbon chronology of 26 sites, including dates previously available only in unpublished reports, and 36 new AMS dates from 11 sites. This chronology solidly establishes the preceramic (before 3600 14 C BP) human occupation in the Middle Cauca. The earliest date clearly associated with cultural evidence of occupation is 10,619 ± 66 14 C BP at the site of Cuba. Four sites show occupation before 10,000 14 C BP, but between 10,000 and 9000 14 C BP, this number increases to eleven sites. Thereafter, despite evidence of episodic volcanic activity, there is a relatively constant and continuous sequence of human occupation in the region, although small localized population movements may have occurred. The fertility of periodically renewed andisols likely attracted settlement and continued occupation of the region by people practicing early plant cultivation, based on the archaeobotanical evidence for the early adoption and use of domesticates.

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among…

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among…

The northwestern corner of South America, represented by the current territory of Colombia, is a key region to assess some relevant issues linked with the initial human peopling of the area, including population dispersals, cultural diversity, and early adaptations to the changing environmental conditions experienced by lowland and highland north-Andean Neotropical ecosystems at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. The aim of this paper is to present a synthesis of the archaeological research about early peopling carried out in Northwest South America during the last four decades. Specifically, it will focus on the adaptive strategies and the cultural diversity patterns exhibited by the early hunter-gatherer groups that entered the region since late Pleistocene times. The classic ideas about the time of arrival of the first settlers, the dispersal routes, the incidence of the climate change in on the rate of dispersal and colonization of different habitats, and the role of the megafauna in the subsistence will be reviewed, prior to the formulation of new hypotheses about the meaning of the apparent intraregional diversity of the archaeological record and the evolution of economic strategies over time.

Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter's overhang. The bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the mid-Upper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, for example behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.

Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter's overhang. The bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the mid-Upper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, for example behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.

En este artículo se presentan los principales datos y refl exiones asociados al poblamiento inicial del noroccidente de Sudamérica debido a su signifi cado estratégico en el marco continental, se destacará la variabilidad cultural y se enfatizarán los cambios de paisajes en el transcurso del tiempo. En Colombia existe muy poca información relevante relacionada con las ocupaciones anteriores a 12.000 AP; en contraste, la información es abundante en cuanto al número de contextos tempranos durante la transición Pleistoceno-Holoceno. La variabilidad entre los conjuntos líticos unifaciales y bifaciales reportados en distintas regiones fi siográfi cas plantea propuestas de modelos alternativos sobre el poblamiento temprano a escala regional. Considerando la importancia del valle interandino del río Magdalena, se recalcan los contextos arqueológicos e información paleoambiental. Asimismo, se destacan los impactos ambientales que demuestran por qué no perduraron las evidencias del Pleniglacial, lo que podría deberse a efectos asociados no solo al cambio climático global, sino, en particular, a causa del vulcanismo. Este trabajo resalta los hallazgos y cronologías de los conjuntos líticos bifaciales del valle del Magdalena en relación con la arqueología temprana del noroccidente de Sudamérica.

This paper presents a synthesis on the existing of the role of plants on the adaptive strategies of human groups that settled in Northwest South America since the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. To contextualize the analysis, a brief description of the Colombian Pleistocene sites is presented. The paper presents a broad description of the lithic technology, archaeobotanical record and radiocarbon dates. Plant resources played a key role in the settling of human groups in the forests of the Neotropics. Furthermore, it is suggested that for some areas there is evidence of cultivation as a strategy to increase the carrying capacity of the surrounding environment.

The northwestern corner of South America, represented by the current territory of Colombia, is a key region to assess some relevant issues linked with the initial human peopling of the area, including population dispersals, cultural diversity, and early adaptations to the changing environmental conditions experienced by lowland and highland north-Andean Neotropical ecosystems at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. The aim of this paper is to present a synthesis of the archaeological research about early peopling carried out in Northwest South America during the last four decades. Specifically, it will focus on the adaptive strategies and the cultural diversity patterns exhibited by the early hunter-gatherer groups that entered the region since late Pleistocene times. The classic ideas about the time of arrival of the first settlers, the dispersal routes, the incidence of the climate change in on the rate of dispersal and colonization of different habitats, and the role of the megafauna in the subsistence will be reviewed, prior to the formulation of new hypotheses about the meaning of the apparent intraregional diversity of the archaeological record and the evolution of economic strategies over time.

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among…

In spite of their potential significance to early human migrants and maritime foragers, small islands often are overlooked in archaeological research projects in favor of mainland coastal and large island counterparts. One excellent example of this is found off the northwestern coast of Baja California, M exico. Despite the wealth of data from islands to the north and south, the Coronados Islands, a group of four small islands clearly visible and only a short boat ride from the mainland, have seen little scientific archaeological investigation. As part of a collaborative bi-national research project, the first systematic archaeological reconnaissance of the Coronados Islands was completed in October 2016, resulting in the identification of 30 archaeological sites, the collection of diagnostic surface artifacts, and the radiocarbon dating of two prehistoric sites. We detail our efforts to build an island settlement chronology and

A partir da análise da escavação do Locus 2 no sambaqui Jabuticabeira II, no sul de Santa Catarina, foi proposta a existência de um grupo de afinidade composto pelos indivíduos sepultados nesse local em um intervalo de tempo circunscrito. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi testar a hipótese de que os indivíduos do Locus 2 apresentam uma afinidade biológica maior entre si do que em relação aos demais indivíduos exumados de outros loci. Para tanto, dados craniométricos de 26 indivíduos foram analisados usando testes estatísticos. Nossos resultados não apoiam a hipótese de que os indivíduos do Locus 2 apresentem maior afinidade biológica entre si. À luz de dados da literatura, outros fatores biológicos também não corroboram a existência do grupo de afinidade. É possível que outros fatores, como os culturais, tenham influenciado a decisão de quem seria sepultado nesse Locus.

Coastal landscapes of the Pacific coast of South America are regarded as bountiful biomes, as they are zones on the fringes of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems. Cumulative research shows an almost uninterrupted presence of mobile hunter-fisher-gatherer communities throughout the Holocene in North-Central Chile (29°–32° S). However, local-scale differences reveal the variability that is concealed by this broad characterization. Recent research in El Teniente Bay (31° S) shows few sites and occupations suggestive of low occupational redundancy as well as reduced archaeological assemblages, indicating limited activities in this landscape. However, several occupations date to the middle Holocene, a period when discontinuities in human occupations in response to adverse environmental conditions have been suggested on regional and supraregional scales. The main occupations detected at El Teniente are interpreted as a response to such conditions and in the context of changes in land u...

Mollusk shells provide brief (<5 yr per shell) records of past marine conditions, including marine radiocarbon reservoir age (R) and upwelling. We report 21 14 C ages and R calculations on small (~2 mg) samples from 2 Mesodesma donacium (surf clam) shells. These shells were excavated from a semi-subterranean house floor stratum 14 C dated to 7625 ± 35 BP at site QJ-280, Quebrada Jaguay, southern Peru. The ranges in marine 14 C ages (and thus R) from the 2 shells are 530 and 170 14 C yr; R from individual aragonite samples spans 130 ± 60 to 730 ± 170 14 C yr. This intrashell 14 C variability suggests that 14 C dating of small (time-slice much less than 1 yr) marine samples from a variable-R (i.e. variable-upwelling) environment may introduce centuries of chronometric uncertainty.

Este artículo presenta una revisión de los trabajos disponibles sobre las ocupaciones humanas tempranas y las condiciones medioambientales en el Magdalena Medio. Nos enfocamos en la temporalidad de la transición del Pleistoceno al Holoceno con el fin de evaluar la potencialidad de la región para albergar sitios con evidencias del uso del paisaje por parte de sociedades de cazadores recolectores. Para lograr esto, caracterizamos la zona, elaboramos el contexto paleoambiental y relacionamos los sitios arqueológicos, con lo cual aportamos a la generación de hipótesis sobre la dispersión humana durante ese período.

Resumen La identificación de distintas tecnologías bifaciales y unifaciales indica procesos mentales de escogencia y transformación de materias primas de variada calidad para la talla y su uso. Para la misma época las tecnologías bifaciales se desarrollan asociadas a diferentes actividades, por una parte, en el valle del Magdalena de cacería / pesca / recolección / desprese; y por otra parte, en el valle del Cauca se vinculan al manejo de plantas y la transformación de productos vegetales Palabras Clave: Poblamiento temprano, tecnología lítica, variabilidad tecnológica, bifacialidad, morfología.

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among…

A human presence in Central America, Colombia and Venezuela (outside 'Amazonia') before the Late Glacial Stage (+14,000-10,000 BP) requires substantiation. In Venezuela, hunter-foragers who used elongate, thick bifacial projectile points preyed upon megamammals (e.g. gomphotheres) before the onset of a (+12,000-11,000 BP) warming stage, particularly visible in highland Colombia (Guantiva Interstadial). Some archaeologists argue for a distinct pre-12,000 BP population centered on the Sabana de Bogota´(Colombia, +2500 m). Their 'Abriense' stone tool kit lacked bifacial reduction, and continued to be used well into the Holocene. In Central America, no human cultural remains yet pre-date the widespread, but poorly documented 'Palaeoindian' horizon. This coincides chronologically with the +11,000-10,000 BP cold stage equivalent to the Younger Dryas (in Colombia, 'El Abra Stadial'). Makers of lanceolate ('Clovis') and stemmed ('Fish-Tail') fluted points, carefully trimmed scrapers, burins and perforators, 'Paleoindians' have also been identified in northwest South America. Palaeoenvironmental data suggest that they moved around in many different vegetation types. In general, these were unlike modern potential vegetation because temperatures and annual rainfall were still lower than those of today. Human material culture at the onset of the Holocene (10,500$700 BP depending on region) does not seem not to have changed as rapidly as climate and vegetation. But the disappearance of fluted projectile points and the Late Pleistocene megafauna may be causally related. Presently, it is difficult to distinguish widespread and short-lived diachronic changes in human culture, from culturally diverse populations living synchronously in different geographic areas. Some archaeologists argue that early Holocene forest expansion and foraging territory contraction were responsible for socioeconomic diversification and a gradual shift from mobile hunting and gathering to a more sylvan way of life. This emphasized the intensive collection and incipient domestication of forest products (e.g. palms and root crops), and the hunting of deer and rodents.

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continent-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, genetic variation among "western" Andean populations is often represented in relation to variation among…

Com o objetivo de compreender e caracterizar o contexto dos sítios de caçadores-coletores localizados na baixada litorânea no norte do estado de Santa Catarina, e com base nos modelos de povoamento da América do Sul (BUENO; DIAS, 2015) e de formação de território (ZEDEÑO, 1997), são abordados os sítios Estaleiro 1 – Estrutura C (E1EC) e OCH19. O material lítico foi analisado tecno-funcionalmente. As atividades registradas no sítio E1EC não indicam tratar-se de uma base residencial, uma vez que, até o momento, não foram identificados vestígios associados a alimentação ou atividades cotidianas variadas. A interpretação dos dados sugere que se trate de uma área de atividade específica e efêmera, relacionada à manutenção de equipamentos. O sítio OCH19 registrou atividades ainda mais exíguas, relacionadas à exploração restrita de recursos. Também foram elaborados modelos tridimensionais de paleonível do mar para a área de pesquisa que, quando cotejados com o perfil da área escavada e com testemunhos estratigráficos coletados da área do sítio E1EC, apontam que o material não esteve submerso na UTM, e que a linha de costa estava deslocada pelo menos 40 km para Leste. A área hoje adjacente à baía da Babitonga era, portanto, zona continental, e hipoteticamente vegetada por floresta ombrófila densa, ou até mesmo floresta ombrófila mista, com áreas de campo associadas a áreas de floresta, ecótonos aos quais os humanos já estariam adaptados conforme registros arqueológicos no planalto. O modelo de povoamento da América do Sul adotado aponta que a “rota do Prata poderia representar um primeiro caminho conectando os Andes com a costa atlântica” (BUENO; DIAS, 2015 p. 135). Os dados desta tese estão de acordo com esse modelo, apresentando o registro contextual mais antigo identificado, até o momento, para a baixada costeira atlântica.

In order to understand and characterize the context of hunter-gatherer sites located in the coastal lowlands in the north of the state of Santa Catarina, and based on the population models of South America (BUENO; DIAS, 2015) and formation of territory (ZEDEÑO, 1997), the sites Shipyard 1 – Structure C (E1EC) and OCH19 are addressed. The lithic material was techno-functionally analyzed. The activities registered on the E1EC site do not indicate that it is a residential base, since, so far, no traces associated with food or varied daily activities have been identified. The interpretation of the data suggests that it is an area of specific and ephemeral activity, related to equipment maintenance. The OCH19 site recorded even more limited activities, related to the restricted exploitation of resources. Three-dimensional pale-sea level models were also developed for the research area, which, when compared with the profile of the excavated area and with stratigraphic testimonies collected from the area of the E1EC site, point out that the material was not submerged in the last marine transgression, and that the coast was at least 40 km to the east. The area today adjacent to Babitonga Bay was, therefore, a continental zone, and hypothetically vegetated by dense ombrophilous forest, or even mixed ombrophilous forest, with field areas associated with forest areas, ecotones to which humans would already be adapted according to archaeological records on the plateau. The adopted South American population model points out that the “Prata route could represent a first path connecting the Andes with the Atlantic coast” (BUENO; DIAS, 2015 p. 135). The data of this thesis are in accordance with this model, presenting the oldest contextual record identified, so far, for the Atlantic coastal lowland.

The assignment of Colombian pollen data to biomes allows the data to be synthesised at 10 &time windows' from the present-day to 6000 radiocarbon years before present (BP). The modern reconstructed biomes are compared to a map of modern potential vegetation to check the applicability of the method and the a priori assignment of pollen taxa to plant functional types and ultimately biomes. The reconstructed modern biomes are successful in describing the composition and distribution of modern vegetation. In particular, altitudinal variations in vegetation within the northern Andean Cordilleras are well described. At 6000 BP the biomes are mainly characteristic of warmer environmental conditions relative to those of the present-day. This trend continues until between 4000 and 3000 BP when there is a shift to more mesic vegetation that is thought to equate to an increase in precipitation levels. The period between 2500 and 1000 BP represents little or no change in biome assignment and is interpreted as a period of environmental stability. The in#uence attributed to human-induced impact on the vegetation is recorded from 5000 BP, but is particularly important from 2000 BP. The extent of this impact increases over the Late-Holocene period, and is recorded at increasingly high altitudes. Despite these changes, a number of sites do not change their biome assignment throughout the analysis. This asynchronous vegetation response is discussed within the context of site location, non-linear response of vegetation to Late-Holocene environmental change, regionally di!erential signals, localised human impact and methodological artefacts.

La question du premier peuplement préhistorique du continent américain a toujours fait l'objet de vifs débats. L'une des controverses actuelles concerne la possibilité d'une présence humaine antérieure à ca. 20 000 ans (avant ou pendant le Dernier Maximum Glaciaire). Bien que la grande majorité des chercheurs reste sceptique quant à la présence d'occupations humaines si anciennes, faute de preuves considérées comme tangibles, certains travaux récents défendent cette hypothèse à partir de cas sud-américains parmi lesquels le site de Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Brésil) tient une place centrale. Le caractère anthropique des assemblages qu'a livré ce gisement a été jusqu'à présent considéré comme très ambigu : les outils présumés, essentiellement des galets aménagés, sont identiques à ceux tombant naturellement du mur et du plateau de la falaise adossée au site. Malgré ces réticences basées sur un contexte géologique favorisant théoriquement la production de géofacts, l'équipe d'É. Boëda tend à considérer que tout chercheur non convaincu par les preuves aujourd'hui publiées l'est pour de simples raisons idéologiques et non scientifiques. Une analyse comparée et critique des nombreuses publications consacrées aux sites anciens de la région de Piauí.

Coastal landscapes of the Pacific coast of South America are regarded as bountiful biomes, as they are zones on the fringes of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems. Cumulative research shows an almost uninterrupted presence of mobile hunter-fisher-gatherer communities throughout the Holocene in North-Central Chile (29–32 S). However, local-scale differences reveal the variability that is concealed by this broad characterization. Recent research in El Teniente Bay (31 S) shows
few sites and occupations suggestive of low occupational redundancy as well as reduced archaeological assemblages, indicating limited activities in this landscape. However, several occupations date to the middle Holocene, a period when discontinuities in human occupations in response to adverse environmental conditions have been suggested on regional and supraregional scales. The main occupations detected at El Teniente are interpreted as a response to such conditions and in the context of changes in land use. Despite the spottiness of the archaeological record of El Teniente Bay, it is important in terms of its chronology and the differing trends in the use of space in comparison to other areas that have been the focuses of research. This paper addresses the archaeological record of El Teniente Bay and discusses its implications for human land use in the wider area of the coast of North-Central Chile.

Mollusk shells provide brief (<5 yr per shell) records of past marine conditions, including marine radiocarbon reservoir age (R) and upwelling. We report 2114C ages andRcalculations on small (∼2 mg) samples from 2Mesodesma donacium(surf clam) shells. These shells were excavated from a semi-subterranean house floor stratum14C dated to 7625 ± 35 BP at site QJ-280, Quebrada Jaguay, southern Peru. The ranges in marine14C ages (and thusR) from the 2 shells are 530 and 17014C yr;Rfrom individual aragonite samples spans 130 ± 60 to 730 ± 17014C yr. This intrashell14C variability suggests that14C dating of small (time-slice much less than 1 yr) marine samples from a variable-R(i.e. variable-upwelling) environment may introduce centuries of chronometric uncertainty.

In this paper we present a revision of the lithic industries of El Abra sites (Sabana de Bogotá, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia), among the most ancient and significant sites of Colombia. Dated to 12,400 ± 160 years BP, El Abra is an important reference for the prehistory of the country. Our review mostly deals with the: a) methodological approach adopted for the study of the lithic industry; b) interpretation of the lithic industry; c) chrono-stratigraphy. In 2017, 2019 we presented the revision of the lithic assemblages of the oldest levels of El Abra sites (Muttillo et al., 2019, 2017); here we integrate and complete the revision with the analysis of the lithic assemblages of the upper levels. This is the first revision of the historical lithic collections, adopting a technological approach and crossing the data with the chrono-stratigraphic context. Our results have highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements contained in previous studies, that mostly affect not only the interpretation of the lithic industries but also the chronology of the site, that turned out to be more recent than previously assumed, for at least three thousand years.

The strategic position of Colombia plays a key role in the knowledge of the early human peopling of South America, in the broader debate on the first peopling of the Americas. The scarcity and fragmentary nature of archaeological record, together with the presence of critical elements related to several early sites, prevent a full and detailed comprehension of chronology, routes of dispersion and technology of the earliest hunter-gatherers of Colombia. The early human settlement of Colombia is characterised by a widespread interregional technological and typological diversity in lithic assemblages, distinctive contemporaneous regional features and patterns, whose origins and interactions are still unclear. How to explain the interregional technological and typological diversity in lithic assemblages of late Pleistocene sites? Does it represent different cultural groups or different functional activities? From the mid-60s onwards, this diversity was explained by postulating the existence of two different lithic traditions (i.e. Abriense/Tequendamiense paradigm, deriving its name from the eponymous sites, El Abra and Tequendama). However, in our opinion the Abriense/Tequendamiense definition is not particularly clear, precise and satisfying. This multifaceted definition, which includes several criteria of different nature, not necessarily connected, can easily lead to misleading interpretations and is not adequate to identify the heterogeneity of Colombian lithic industries. Therefore, we support the necessity to implement a techno-economic analysis of the lithic assemblages overcoming the restrictive traditional distinction and to provide new insights on the interpretation of the oldest lithic industries of the Colombian territory. In this framework, a reanalysis of the lithic assemblages corresponding to Tibitó 1, El Abra 2 and El Abra 3 (Cundiboyacense Plateau, Eastern Cordillera), traditionally considered the oldest and most significant sites of Colombia, has been conducted. Our review has highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements contained in previous studies.