Past human populations and landscapes in the Fuegian Archipelago, southernmost South America

Bibliographic Data

ID24086604
AuthorsIvana L Ozán (0000-0002-4601-0832, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, corresponding author), M C Pallo (0000-0003-0895-9622, Universidad de Buenos Aires)
Year2019
Volume92
Issue2
Pages304-322
Publication date2019-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuaternary Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-5894 • E-ISSN: 1096-0287
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/qua.2018.157
OpenAlexW2926475445
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited130

This contribution discusses possible relationships between human populations and Holocene environmental deterioration phenomena (cold/arid pulses and volcanic eruptions) in the Fuegian Archipelago (South America), based on summed probability distributions of archaeological dates, paleoenvironmental information, geospatial data, and archaeological evidence. During the first millennia after peopling, only the Hudson (ca. 7700 cal yr BP) and the first Monte Burney (ca. 8600 cal yr BP) eruptions might have played a role in human dispersion. Particularly, a more intense human occupation around the Beagle Channel and long-distance interactions are proposed as risk-buffer strategies related to the Hudson eruption. A cooling phase and a demographic growth at ca. 5500 cal yr BP might have favored more dispersed spatial occupations and a subsistence diversification in the Beagle Channel. In the northern steppes, the second Monte Burney eruption (ca. 4300 cal yr BP) and an arid episode (ca. 2600 cal yr BP) are proposed as the main triggers for changes in land-use patterns, long-network interactions, and subsistence strategies. Even though occupation changes in the Fuegian Archipelago coexist with environmental deterioration episodes after 1500 cal yr BP, demographic processes and the European colonization most likely explain this trend. Similarities between the steppe/ecotone and forest occupation curves suggest common behavioral patterns across the Holocene.

Agriculture · Archaeology · Archipelago · Arid · Biology · Ecotone · Geography · Habitat · Holocene · Physical geography · Steppe · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology