Patterns of Cultural Transmission in the Manufacture of Projectile Points: Implications for the Early Settlement of the Argentine Puna

Abstract

Within the Andean region, the Puna is an elevated desert that rises beyond 3,000 masl. Human settlement of this sector apparently began ca. 11,000 rcybp during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, the result of human dispersion from other biomes. The clearest archaeological records date to the early Holocene (ca.10,000–8000 rcybp). Early populations likely were of low demographic density and high residential mobility, given to moving great distances. These characteristics likely influenced cultural dynamics.