The inverted triangle shape of South America places Argentina territory as a geographical crossroads between the two principal peopling streams that followed either the Pacific or the Atlantic coasts, which could have then merged in Central Argentina. Although the genetic diversity from this region is therefore crucial to decipher past population movements in South America, its characterization has been overlooked so far. We report 92 modern and 22 ancient mitogenomes spanning a temporal range of 5000 years, which were compared to a large set of previously reported data. Leveraging this dataset representative of the mitochondrial diversity of the subcontinent, we investigate the maternal history of Central Argentina populations within a wider geographical context. We describe a large number of novel clades within the mitochondrial DNA tree, thus providing new phylogenetic interpretations for South America. We also identify several local clades of great temporal depth with continuity until present that stem directly from the founder haplotypes, suggesting that they originated in the region and expanded from there. Moreover, the presence of lineages characteristic of other South American regions reveals the existence of gene flow to Central Argentina. Finally, we report some lineages with discontinuous distribution across the Americas, which suggest the persistence of relic lineages likely linked to the first population arrivals. The present study represents to date the most exhaustive attempt to elaborate a Native American genetic map from modern and ancient complete mitochondrial genomes in Argentina and provides relevant information about the general process of settlement in South America.

En este trabajo presentamos resultados del análisis de haplogrupos y secuencias de la Región Hipervariable I del ADN mitocondrial (RHV-I) en restos humanos del sitio El Diquecito, en la región sur de la Laguna Mar Chiquita, provincia de Córdoba, con antigüedades comprendidas entre 2562 ± 47 y 537 ± 57 14C años AP. De los 14 individuos analizados, 13 pudieron ser tipificados por APLP. Siete fueron asignados al haplogrupo C, cuatro al haplogrupo D y el restante no pudo ser amplificado por PCR. Se obtuvieron secuencias de 10 individuos, y todos ellos pudieron ser asignados con certeza a un linaje mitocondrial de origen continental americano, que coincidió con el determinado previamente por APLP. Entre las 7 secuencias correspondientes al haplogrupo C1 se reconocen 2 haplotipos diferentes, aunque sólo una no presenta el haplotipo nodal. Entre las 4 secuencias pertenecientes al haplogrupo D1 se distinguen 3 haplotipos diferentes: uno corresponde al haplotipo nodal, otro al subhaplogrupo D1j y los dos restantes al subhaplogrupo D1g. Si bien las conclusiones que pueden realizarse a partir del estudio de un solo sitio son limitadas, el estudio de la diversidad de linajes mitocondriales de los pobladores antiguos de la costa sur de la Laguna Mar Chiquita representa un nuevo aporte para comprender los procesos microevolutivos que sufrieron las poblaciones originarias del centro de Argentina.

The aim of this study is to investigate spatial and temporal patterns of palaeodiet diversification through isotopic measurements (d 13 C COL and d 15 N) from individuals who inhabited the Central Mountains of Argentina during the Holocene. Isotopic measurements were obtained from bone and tooth samples from ten human skeletons, corresponding to the Middle and Late Holocene (4500-300 14 C BP). Isotopic results show the consumption of C 3 , C 4 and CAM plants, which reflects a mixed diet. Variation observed among hunter-gatherer sites could be associated with differences in the availability of animal resources. On the other hand, evidence from agricultural sites could be indicating a more omnivorous diet, with greater emphasis on vegetable resources. Regarding spatial variation, the d 13 C results suggest modest regional differences in diet in the later periods of the regional sequence. This study provides a first step to evaluating the role played by maize agriculture and the dietary variability in time and space for populations that inhabited the Central Mountains during the Holocene. Although preliminary, the evidence suggests that adoption of agriculture was complementary to huntergatherer subsistence strategies. However, the incorporation of cultigens seems to show regional differences. These results confirm the mixed character of the economy, previously inferred from other archaeological indicators.

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In this study we test several hypotheses about the peopling of the central territory of Argentina, archaeologically known as Sierras Centrales, by testing the association between four alternative models of the peopling of the area and cranial morphological variation through distance and matrix correlation analyses. Our results show that the ancient inhabitants of Sierras Centrales demonstrated close morphological similarities with the Patagonian and Tierra del Fuego populations. Moreover, the correlation and partial correlation analyses suggest that the peopling of the Sierras Centrales most likely took place as a migratory wave proceeding from the present area of Northeastern Argentina, and continued southward to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

Se presentan nuevas evidencias sobre la evolución de las poblaciones prehispánicas del actual territorio de Córdoba a partir del análisis de ADN mitocondrial de restos humanos de procedencia arqueológica de distintos contextos culturales, geográficos y temporales. La muestra estudiada incluyó 53 individuos de los cuales 48 pudieron ser genotipificados para alguno de los cuatro haplogrupos mitocondriales fundadores americanos. La totalidad de los restos analizados (excepto uno) fueron previamente datados por AMS, presentando un rango de antigüedad de entre 4525 ± 20 y 345 ± 20 años AP. Los resultados obtenidos muestran diferencias genéticas significativas entre los grupos que habitaron las serranías y los que vivieron en la llanura extraserrana. Esta diferenciación, caracterizada por un fuerte incremento en la frecuencia del haplogrupo B en la zona serrana, habría surgido recién alrededor del 1200 AP, modificando sensiblemente el pool génico de la población antigua, que presenta un neto predominio del haplogrupo C. También se advierte para esa época un incremento en la frecuencia del haplogrupo A en la llanura, pero sin llegar a alterar substancialmente el perfil genético de la población antigua. Las altas prevalencias relativas en la llanura de los haplogrupos C y D, similares a la que presentan las poblaciones de Patagonia y Tierra del Fuego, coinciden, de manera sugestiva y ciertamente difícil de desentrañar, en la población contemporánea que habita la provincia de Córdoba, y sugieren un posible origen común con los habitantes del extremo sur del continente.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of subsistence strategies and dietary habits of the human populations that inhabited the central region of Argentina during the Late Holocene through the evaluation of physiological stress indicators (pattern and degree of tooth wear). The samples correspond to a total of 61 individuals (19 females and 42 males) recovered from 36 archaeological sites located