Las excavaciones arqueológicas y los registros bioantropológicos realizados en el archipiélago de los Chonos (entre 43° 50’ y 46° 50’ S), a lo largo de los canales occidentales de Patagonia, permiten definir la ocupación de este sistema insular por parte de cazadores recolectores marinos desde el Holoceno medio hasta el contacto europeo. Sus conjuntos tecnológicos y arqueofaunísticos señalan una dependencia de recursos del medio litoral y marítimo. La información de isótopos estables del carbono y nitrógeno en restos humanos asociados a estos contextos provee una herramienta de análisis independiente para evaluar las interpretaciones realizadas sobre la base de otros conjuntos de datos arqueológicos. Este trabajo presenta los resultados de análisis de δ13C y δ15N de 38 individuos con edades en el rango entre 2300 y 200 cal aP (fechamientos directos 14C por AMS), así como de muestras complementarias de arqueofauna. El análisis de los valores isotópicos respalda la interpretación de una adaptación cazadora recolectora fundamentada en un patrón de subsistencia enfocado principalmente en recursos litorales y marinos. Los valores de δ13C y δ15N son comparados con los obtenidos de otros grupos canoeros de los canales centrales y meridionales de Patagonia, poniendo de relieve las diferencias en trayectorias de subsistencia entre las regiones involucradas.

We present isotopic and morphometric evidence suggesting the migration of farmers in the southern Andes in the period AD 1270–1420, leading up to the Inka conquest occurring ~ AD 1400. This is based on the interdisciplinary study of human remains from archaeological cemeteries in the Andean Uspallata Valley (Argentina), located in the southern frontier of the Inka Empire. The studied samples span AD 800–1500, encompassing the highly dynamic Late Intermediate Period and culminating with the imperial expansion. Our research combines a macro-regional study of human paleomobility and migration based on a new strontium isoscape across the Andes that allows identifying locals and migrants, a geometric morphometric analysis of cranio-facial morphology suggesting separate ancestral lineages, and a paleodietary reconstruction based on stable isotopes showing that the migrants had diets exceptionally high in C4 plants and largely based on maize agriculture. Significantly, this migration influx occurred during a period of regional demographic increase and would have been part of a widespread period of change in settlement patterns and population movements that preceded the Inka expansion. These processes increased local social diversity and may have been subsequently utilized by the Inka to channel interaction with the local societies.

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The native groups of Patagonia have relied on a hunter-gatherer economy well after the first Europeans and North Americans reached this part of the world. The large exploitation of marine mammals (i.e., seals) by such allochthonous groups has had a strong impact on the local ecology in a way that might have forced the natives to adjust their subsistence strategies. Similarly, the introduction of new foods might have changed local diet. These are the premises of our isotopic-based analysis. There is a large set of paleonutritional investigations through isotopic analysis on Fuegians groups, however a systematic exploration of food practices across time in relation to possible pre- and post-contact changes is still lacking. In this paper we investigate dietary variation in hunter-gatherer groups of Tierra del Fuego in a diachronic perspective, through measuring the isotopic ratio of carbon (∂13C) and nitrogen (∂15N) in the bone collagen of human and a selection of terrestrial and marine animal samples. The data obtained reveal an unexpected isotopic uniformity across prehistoric and recent groups, with little variation in both carbon and nitrogen mean values, which we interpret as the possible evidence of resilience among these groups and persistence of subsistence strategies, allowing inferences on the dramatic contraction (and extinction) of Fuegian populations.

the first settlers of Patagonia and several extinct species: Hemiauchenia cf. paradoxa, Lama gracilis, Panthera onca mesembrina, Hippidion saldiasi, Megatherium americanum cf. and Arctotheirum sp. Present fauna such as Lama guanicoe, Rhea sp., Lycalopex griseus and Lycalopex sp. is also contemporary. All the information points to the fact that southern Patagonia had paleoenvironmental diversity, plurality of sites and different use patterns of wildlife during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The use and consumption of the three species of camelids and the survival of Hippidion saldiasi in specific environments of the plateau is also highlighted. These issues are discussed taking into account available information relating to the early human occupation of the Southern Cone, as part of a growing methodological improvement that seeks to integrate different research avenues.

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Este trabajo busca generar un aporte al conocimiento de la dinámica poblacional de cazadores, en Patagonia meridional, durante el Holoceno medio y tardío en el marco de condiciones climáticas altamente fluctuantes. Para este fin se analizaron distintas líneas de evidencias arqueológicas provenientes de diferentes ambientes del centro-oeste de la provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina. Se identificó una interesante variabilidad del registro arqueológico, en estrecha relación con las modificaciones ambientales registradas en el Holoceno.Palabras claves: Patagonia, cazadores-recolectores, Holoceno.this article seeks to generate a contribution to the knowledge of the peopling dynamics of hunters in southern Patagonia during the middle and late holocene within fluctuating climatic conditions. in order to do this, different archaeological evidences were analyzed from diverse environments in Santa cruz province (Argentina). An interesting variability in the archaeological record was identified, in close relation with the environmental modifications registered in the holocene.