Human occupation chronologies modeled by geomorphological factors: A case study from the Atlantic Coast Northern Patagonia (Argentina)

Abstract

Radiocarbon chronologies obtained in a dynamic landscape such as the coastal one provide valuable information about the different stages of its use, but they also reflect inevitable biases, many of them linked to geomorphological factors. Then, the study of these factors and their changes over time becomes an indispensable task in which geoarchaeology plays a relevant role. In this work, the Atlantic coast of Norpatagonia (San Matías Gulf, Argentina) is presented as a study case. In this coast the erosion of coastal geoforms eliminated archaeological sites of the Middle Holocene and the unequal development of wind deposits affected its temporal representation at the whole region. Both phenomena are linked to coastal dynamics and relative changes in sea level. Other environmental factors were responsible for shortening the chronologies provided by the rockshelters of the region. In this way, the geomorphological dynamics expressed in different types of discontinuities produced biases that affect the chronologies obtained for the human occupation of this region.