Cueva Huenul 1 Archaeological Site, Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina: Initial Colonization and Mid-Holocene Demographic Retraction

Abstract

In this paper 1 present an intensively dated chrono-stratigraphic sequence for the Cueva Huenul 1 archaeological site, Neuquen Province, Argentina. Located in the inland deserts of northwestern Patagonia, Cueva Huenul 1 offers a remarkable temporal record of events for a largely unstudied desert region. I connect this local record with available data on a macroregional scale to reassess (1) the timing of the first human colonization of the area and its implications for explaining the extinction of megafauna (ca. 14,000-10,000 cal B.P.) and (2) the decrease in human occupation recorded in several South American deserts during parts of the mid-Holocene (ca. 8000-6000 cal B .P.). The data presented here show a gap of about 1,500 calendar years between the extinction of megafauna and the appearance of humans. A review of evidence from the northern Patagonia and southern Cuyo regions is consistent with this record, favoring ecological causes for regional extinction ofmegafaunal taxa. Integration of this record with those indicating the earliest human presence in South America (e.g., Monte Verde, Chile) is consistent with a process of human radiation to the inland Patagonian deserts from nodes of initial occupation. The chrono-stratigraphic sequence from Cueva Huenul 1 also contributes to an assessment of a trough in human occupation along the South American Arid Diagonal around 8000-6000 cal B.P. Evidence for a decrease in occupational intensity during this period is found in the highland and lowland deserts in Mendoza and San Juan, the Puna region in northwestern Argentina, the Atacama Desert in Chile, and possibly the Pampean region. Previous researchers have suggested that persistent arid conditions would have produced increasing landscape fragmentation, particularly affecting desert areas. A more specific understanding of the demographic processes underlying this archaeological signal is needed. In this paper I suggest that this trough reflects not only spatial and social rearrangements, but also a macro-regional demographic retraction. This could have caused a population bottleneck with lasting biological and cultural implications.

Perspectivas arqueológicas para Patagonia Septentrional: Sitio Cueva Huenul 1 (Provincia del Neuquén, Argentina)

“…Estos resultados permiten comparar en forma preliminar las ocupaciones humanas registradas para el Holoceno temprano y el Holoceno tardío, así como ampliar el registro espacial del hiato propuesto para el Holoceno medio (Barberena, 2015).…”

High-altitude adaptation and late Pleistocene foraging in the Bolivian Andes

“…This suggests that these transitory, seasonal sites were also used by highly mobile foragers (Madsen et al, 2006). The regional increased aridity that began during the early Holocene and intensified during the middle Holocene (Abbott et al, 2003;Baker and Fritz, 2015;Barberena, 2015;Marsh, 2015;Méndez et al, 2015;Núñez et al, 2013) would explain why the early foraging network that included Cueva Bautista was discontinued, and the site not reoccupied until the late Holocene. Similarly, QM12, Tuina-1, and Tuina-5 were also abandoned between the early and late Holocene, as other localities within the south central Andes became more attractive (Núñez et al, 2013;Pintar, 2014).…”

“…Late Pleistocene archaeological sites across the continent show that people exploiting a broad range of resources, and using a wide variety of subsistence technologies, colonized disparate environments simultaneously (Barberena, 2015;Borrero and Franco, 1997;Dillehay, 1999;Jackson et al, 2007;Sandweiss et al, 1998;Steele and Politis, 2009;Suárez, 2015). Yet the high Andes, situated N2500 m above sea level (asl), likely constituted a migration barrier as human populations had to contend with physiological and ecological challenges such as high-altitude hypoxia, cold stress, and potentially low resource availability (Aldenderfer, 2003(Aldenderfer, , 2008Beall, 2007).…”

“…In this sense, relevant questions for explaining the evolution of these later trajectories of cultural change include how significant and effective was the initial exploration and colonization of the highlands, and how intrinsic (e.g., foraging strategies, technological organization, and population pressure) and extrinsic (e.g., climate, altitude, predation) factors constrained the strength and speed of these processes? (Anderson and Gillam, 2000;Barberena, 2015;Dillehay, 2000;Prates et al, 2013).…”

Espacios Internodales en Patagonia Septentrional: Biogeografía, Información Y Mecanismos Sociales De Interacción

“…Una parte de estos conjuntos, procedentes de los sitios Cueva Huenul 1 y Cueva Huenul 3 (Barberena 2015;Fernández et al 2016), proviene de contextos de estratigrafía con fechas asociadas, que los sitúan mayormente en los últimos 1500 años. Esta muestra será ampliada en el corto plazo mediante la caracterización geoquímica de la secuencia del sitio Cueva Yagui, con una edad de base de ca.…”