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Palaeoindian occupation of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile
Author(s) -
Grosjean Martin,
Núñez Lautaro,
Cartajena Isabel
Publication year - 2005
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.969
Subject(s) - projectile point , fell , desert (philosophy) , holocene , physical geography , geography , geology , archaeology , habitat , ecology , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology , biology
Palaeoindian occupation of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile has been found between 12 600 and 10 200 cal. yr BP. The new site at Salar Punta Negra (24°28′S/60°53′W/2976 m) includes about 1000 classifiable, mostly unifacial artefacts and, uniquely, three different diagnostic types of early projectile points. Two of the Lateglacial/early Holocene projectile types have wide distribution and are known from different geographical areas in South America: the Palaeoindian ‘Fell’ fish‐tail point mainly from the southern cone of South America, and the triangular ‘Tuina’ points typical of the Puna of the south‐central Andes in northern Chile and northwestern Argentina. In addition, we found a third type, a stemmed point typical for the Salar Punta Negra. Filling a large geographical gap of ‘Fell’ occupation, the site at Salar Punta Negra provides evidence for generally much higher mobility and diversity of early cultures, and supports an Andean‐Pacific route for early human exploration of South America to the south through the desert at intermediate altitudes. Contemporaneous high‐amplitude climatic changes were fundamental preconditions to provide adequate environments and habitats, and to make Palaeoindian hunting‐gathering occupation possible in the Atacama Desert. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.