Mid-Holocene human occupations in Tucumán (Northwest Argentina)

Abstract

This paper presents the results of recent archaeological research carried out in Quebrada de Los Corrales, a high altitude ravine in the west-central region of Tucumán province, in northwest of Argentina. Most of the information for this area is given for the period ca. 1750-1560 BP, within the frame of agro-pastoralist societies that produced their own food. Nevertheless, recent radiocarbon dating from Taller Puesto Viejo 1 site has confirmed the presence of human settlements from at least the middle Holocene in this ravine, extending the antiquity of the hunter-gatherers groups. This area is located over 3000m asl in the Aconquija mountain system. This evidence opens an interesting view that will broaden knowledge about the early hunter-gatherers societies for valleys in northwest Argentina.