Diatom Analysis of Piedra Museo Paleolake, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Abstract

The aim of this work is to apply diatom analysis to the sediments of the paleolake close to the site AEP-1 (Alero El Puesto 1) located in the Piedra Museo archaeological locality (Santa Cruz, Argentina) and to evaluate the scope of the results. The objective was to establish the environmental conditions of the past in order to set frameworks for site occupation. Diatom assemblages suggest a semi-aerial littoral-type environment, that is, those environments which prevail at the edge of water bodies. Aerophilous and euterrestrial diatoms dominate, characterizing arid conditions. However, it was not possible to link, in chronological terms, the dominant environmental conditions with the first human occupations of this locality.