Human dynamics in the Southern Puna of Chile (25°-27°s) during the Late Holocene

Abandonment, re-occupation and diversification

Bibliographic Data

ID21263625
AuthorsPatricio López-Mendoza (0000-0003-3431-7260, corresponding author), R Loyola (0000-0003-3828-9439, Universidad Católica del Norte), C Carrasco (0000-0003-0809-1392, Colegio Médico de Chile), Elvira Latorre, Víctor Méndez (0000-0002-3453-3708, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
Year2024
Volume3
Publication date2024-07-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Environmental Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2813-432X • E-ISSN: 2813-432X
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fearc.2024.1423960
OpenAlexW4400546767
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited62

We discuss the process of human re-occupation of the Southern Puna (25°-27°S) during the Late Holocene through a variety of lines of evidence, such as ceramics, faunal bones, lithic technology, sources of raw materials like obsidian, and rock art, and their integration with spatial analyses using least-cost paths. Our results indicate a process in which niches were formed in the puna, focused on a variety of activities such as vicuña hunting; exploitation of lithic sources, minerals and pigments; camelid grazing; symbolic manifestations, and inter-Andean circulation. This suggests that human dynamics in the highlands of the Southern Puna toward the Late Holocene were motivated by a range of biotic and abiotic resources, and different modes of occupation, which tended to become diversified in the long term; nevertheless, they retained a common base in vicuña hunting and obsidian procurement, circulation and exchange

Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Holocene · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology · Geology