Early Neotropical hunter-gatherers and the dynamics of the initial peopling of Northern South America

Abstract

Northern South America (NSA), which roughly corresponds to the current territories of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and even Panama, is a key region to address the initial human peopling of the subcontinent, as well as early Neotropical hunter-gatherer adaptations. The reason is twofold, on the one hand, it presents both a strategic geographic location—if we assume a primary north-to-south terrestrial route of access—and, on the other hand, it has a very diverse environmental gradient that includes Andean mountain ranges, interandean valleys, arid and coastal landscapes, rain forests, plains covered with grasses, among others. The diversity of the landscapes occupied, and eventually exploited, since the late Pleistocene suggests that the dynamics of the initial human dispersal through the Neotropical region were not simple, likely affected by distinct environmental and ecological factors.