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Early Holocene climate change and human occupation along the semiarid coast of north‐central Chile
Author(s) -
Maldonado Antonio,
Méndez Cesar,
Ugalde Paula,
Jackson Donald,
Seguel Roxana,
Latorre Claudio
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.1385
Subject(s) - holocene , charcoal , pleistocene , climate change , physical geography , geology , dominance (genetics) , megafauna , shrubland , paleoecology , archaeology , quaternary , oceanography , geography , ecology , paleontology , ecosystem , biochemistry , materials science , chemistry , biology , metallurgy , gene
The brief, terminal Pleistocene archaeological site at Santa Julia (SJ, 31° 50′ S; 71° 45′ W) is the only one with fluted projectile preforms and megafauna consumption known from the Chilean semiarid coastline. Here, we present the climatic history at SJ during the early Holocene reconstructed from pollen and charcoal analyses spanning 13.2–8.6 ka (=10 3 calibrated 14 C yr BP). Elevated charcoal concentrations confirm human activity by 13.2 ka. Human occupation decreased in intensity and charcoal practically disappears from the record after 10.6 ka, followed by wetland expansion at SJ between 10.5 and 9.5 ka. Local dominance of coastal shrubland reveals that dry phases occurred between >11.2–10.5 and 9.5–9.0 ka. Overall, these findings imply that by modulating available resources at both local and landscape levels climate change may have played an important role in explaining the peopling of semiarid coastal Chile. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.