Human Strategy and Paleoclimate in the Andean: Variation in Intensity Occupation in the Laguna del Diamante (ca. 2000–500 years BP)

Abstract

Laguna del Diamante (34°S) is a high-altitude wetland (3,000 m asl) with resources that have been attractive to human societies for the last 2,000 years. This article evaluates the variable intensity of its occupation in five temporal segments between 2030 and 440 cal BP, according to a chronology modeled from 14 radiocarbon dates excavated in stone enclosures at three sites. The variation in the density of proximal flakes is used as a proxy of human occupation intensity. We assess the correlation of more intense human occupation and environmental changes in temperature and humidity, as recorded at three high-altitude lakes: Aculeo, Chepical, and Maule (33°–35°S). These archives include proxies for vegetation cover, ice cover extent, and changes in precipitation derived from the Westerlies and the El Niño Southern Oscillation. There is a correlation between favorable conditions and more intense occupations at multiple times in the sequence.We discuss two periods of greater intensity: 1200–1280 cal BP (calibrated medians), when summertemperature and precipitation was higher, and 450–500 cal BP, when temperatures were lower and the Inca were in the area.