Relationships between terrestrial animal exploitation, marine hunter-gatherers and palaeoenvironmental conditions during the Middle-Late Holocene in the Beagle Channel region (Tierra del Fuego)

Abstract

Palaeoenvironmental information collected from zooarchaeological (guanaco exploitation) and palynological (pollen and fungal remains) records from Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados allowed us to reconstruct the natural scenarios during the Holocene to better understand the human behavioral patterns and cultural changes. We have seen that changes in subsistence and guanaco exploitation would not have necessarily been synchronous with climatic variations. However, there is evidence of great climatic and environmental variability in the Fuegian Archipelago during the last 6000 years that would have influenced the distribution of the hunter-gatherer societies. In particular, the Little Ice Age (LIA) event could have caused a reorganization of subsistence activities of the hunter-gatherer societies. The stress caused by this severe climatic episode might have changed the availability of the guanaco population over the inland and coastal areas along the Beagle Channel. Indeed, the colder conditions would have significantly impacted on both the animal population and the availability of their food sources. In summary, the guanaco availability decreased under those colder and intense winters, which is clearly reflected in the substantial drop in the zooarchaeological record.