Donald Jackson

Initial Occupation of the Pacific Coast of Chile during Late Pleistocene Times

The record of the initial settlement of South America has significant geographical gaps, especially along the Pacific coast. The study of small sites with brief occupation spans can open windows on high‐resolution contexts in which associations and activities are clear. Through the use of a program designed to identify lacustrine Pleistocene environments in which the initial human populations would presumably have settled, Quebrada Santa Julia, a site attesting to human presence dating to 13,000 calibrated years BP, has recently been located on the semiarid coast of Chile. It is the only known Paleoindian site with fluted projectile points in unambiguous association with extinct megafauna on the Andean Pacific coast. It represents a small lakeside camp with a brief occupation span in which multiple activities, including the processing of prey transported from a nearby location, were conducted. The present of extralocal lithic raw materials argues for movements into the interior, as has been suggested for other early settlements in the Andean region. Notwithstanding its proximity to the littoral, the site has not yielded any evidence of the exploitation of marine resources.

Early Evidence (ca. 12,000 BP) for Iron Oxide Mining on the Pacific Coast of South America

Iron oxides have been used extensively in the Americas from the Paleoindian period up to the ethnographic present. But, because archaeological mining sites are extremely rare in this continent, we still know very little about how indigenous groups exploited and processed these minerals. Here we report finds from the San Ramón 15 site, located on the arid coast of northern Chile, where our research revealed a prehistoric mine with associated tailings and mining debris that was exploited by hunter-gatherer-fisher groups. The mine was first exploited during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (ca. 12,000–10,500 calibrated years before present [cal yr BP]) and then again during the Late Archaic (ca. 4300 cal yr BP), representing the earliest known mining activity in the Americas. This discovery has important implications, including (1) the record of undisputed mining activity in the continent is extended by several millennia, showing the first insights into Early Archaic mining techniques and technologies; (2) the earliest inhabitants of the Pacific Coast of South America had a well-developed mining knowledge, that is, they were hunter-gatherer-fisher-miner communities; and (3) mobility patterns of early nomadic maritime adaptations in northern Chile were influenced by repeated access to iron oxide pigments used mainly for symbolic purposes.

OCUPACIÓN HUMANA PLEISTOCÉNICA EN EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA: PRIMEROS RESULTADOS DE LA APLICACIÓN DE UN MODELO PREDICTIVO DE INVESTIGACIÓN INTERDISCIPLINARIA

Sudamerica cuenta con evidencias de ocupacion humana desde los 14.600 anos calibrados a.p. (14,6 ka). Sin embargo, en el desierto de Atacama existe una notoria ausencia de ocupaciones pre-11,5 ka entre las latitudes 17° a 21° S (Atacama Norte). Esto debido, en parte, a que se ha desestimado como territorio atractivo para poblaciones de la transicion Pleistoceno-Holoceno, dadas sus condiciones actuales de extrema aridez. Sobre la base de ciertos datos paleoecologicos generales, que sugerian condiciones de mayor disponibilidad de agua en la vertiente occidental de los Andes desde los 17 a 9,5 ka, se realizaron busquedas sistematicas de paleomadrigueras de roedores y paleohumedales en ambientes de precordillera y quebradas (1.000 a 3.000 msm). Esto permitio identificar habitat especificos que presentaran condiciones favorables para el asentamiento humano temprano y de esta manera buscar sitios arqueologicos en forma dirigida. El modelo metodologico interdisciplinario de caracter predictivo, que se resume en este articulo, permitio identificar un conjunto de sitios entre los que destaca Quebrada Mani 12, donde se constataron las primeras evidencias de ocupaciones pleistocenicas tardias (~11,9 a 12,7 ka) en el desierto de Atacama Norte.

Poblamiento Paleoindio en el norte-centro de Chile: Evidencias, problemas y perspectivas de estudio

A review of Paleoindian site evidence for northern to central Chile is herein presented, characterizing its contexts, paleoenvironmental frames and cultural relations. Discussion is restricted to cultural contexts associated with extinct fauna and sites yielding lithic instruments typologically diagnostic of the period. Evidences and its cultural associations, interpretive issues at a regional scale, the existence of human occupations before 11.500 B.P. and some approaches for the study of the first Paleoindian settlements in North-Central Chile are discussed.

Hakenasa Cave and its relevance for the peopling of the southern Andean Altiplano

Researchers in the High Andes in northern Chile report the study of a fine cave sequence, supported by 19 radiocarbon dates. The initial occupation at c. 11 500 cal BP represents the earliest human occupation known at this altitude. The toolkit suggests a hunting (logistical) camp used to take advantage of the animals gathering in the rich wetland of the neighbourhood.

REGISTRO DE POMACEA CANALICULATA (LAMARCK, 1822) (AMPULLARIIDAE), MOLUSCO EXOTICO PARA EL NORTE DE CHILE

En este trabajo informamos acerca de la presencia en la costa de Choapa (IV Region de Coquimbo, Chile), de un molusco de agua dulce Pomacea canaliculata (Lammarck, 1822) (Ampullariidae). Se describe la morfologia, habitat y relaciones con otros moluscos de agua dulce. Se discute su potencial rol con relacion a la zoonosis parasitaria.

Human Remains Directly Dated to the Pleistocene- Holocene Transition Support a Marine Diet for Early Settlers of the Pacific Coast of Chile

ABSTRACT A coastal route for the initial peopling of the Americas has been debated for over 30 years. Nevertheless, evidence supporting this coastal dispersal is often elusive, especially bioanthropological data. Here we report archaeological human remains directly dated to ca. 11,200 cal BP from the semiarid north coast of Chile (31° S), supporting an early settlement along the Pacific Coast. 15N stable isotope analyses of these remains indicate that the individual relied primarily on marine resources, suggesting coastal dwelling rather than seasonal rounds that included sporadic exploitation of littoral resources. When placed in a regional context, our results suggest that marine resources were important to the subsistence of some groups during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Tempranas evidencias de navegación y caza De especies oceánicas en la costa pacífica de Sudamérica (taltal, ~ 7.000 años cal. A.p.)

Resumen es: Se presentan bioindicadores de practicas de navegacion y caza de especies oceanicas durante el Holoceno Medio (ca. 7.000 cal a.p.) en la costa arida del ...

Nuevas evidencias estratigráficas para el complejo Huentelauquén en la Provincia del Choapa, IV Región

El conocimiento de las primeras poblaciones holocenicas que ocuparon la costa del semiarido de Chile atribuidas al llamado Complejo Cultural Huentelauquen, se limitaba hace un par de decadas, a unos cuantos sitios de caracter superficial. Su evidencia cultural incluia principalmente muestras selectivas de artefactos liticos, en base a los cuales se habian realizado algunas interpretaciones (Iribarren, Gajardo, Weisner).La falta de un conocimiento mas amplio y preciso de este complejo se debia, entre otras razones, a la aparente ausencia de asentamientos con contextos estratificados y datables. Se asumia, en base a las evidencias existentes de esa epoca. que los sitios se encontraban arrasados, ya sea por procesos erosivos de caracter eolico o pluvial.

An Early Holocene task camp (~8.5 ka cal BP) on the coast of the semi-arid north of Chile

According to current thinking, the peopling of South America involved a coastal as well as an inland exploitation. Here the authors describe a camp that may denote a transition between the two. As indicated by bifacial tools, the investigation shows that people began to move inland and hunt mammals around 8500 cal BP, perhaps in association with a change in the climate.