From de highest desert... Hunter-gatherers resources, mobility and interactions in Antofagasta de la Sierra, 9000-3000 BP, Argentine Southern Puna

Abstract

The sites studied in Antofagasta de la Sierra (3400–4100 masl) and their radiocarbon chronology show a sequence of human occupation with minimal temporal gaps, which suggest that at some point during the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene, people arrived and stayed from then on. The presence of megamammals in the Late Pleistocene—such as Megatheriinae, Mylodon sp. and Hippidion sp., whose feces contents show a diet based on vegetation that currently surrounds stream wetlands and lakes—reveals an environment with good availability of water as well as hunting and gathering resources for initial colonization. We analyze human presence that began ∼10,000 BP until 3000 BP. We examine the data provided by lithic provisioning, particularly obsidian, designs in rock art, variability and change in morphology and technology of projectile points (unstemmed triangular, stemmed, lanceolate, etc.), grinding equipment, macro and microbotanical remains, and technofactures made of wood, seeds, vegetal fibers and mollusk shells throughout the sequence. These data enables us to configure a scenario of large interaction networks sustained by hunter-gatherers from ∼8600 BP that were later continued by agropastoral societies. These interactions responded to social strategies that, in addition to resources, suggest genetic and information exchanges that were necessary for the survival of demographically reduced groups throughout this timeframe. Finally, data also reveal the first records of local cultivation that correspond to Chenopodium quinoa and a series of cultivated resources that were utilized in human subsistence beginning ∼3500 BP.