Omar Reyes

USO DEL ESPACIO DE CAZADORES RECOLECTORES Y PALEOAMBIENTE HOLOCENO EN EL VALLE DEL RÍO CISNES, REGIÓN DE AISÉN, CHILE

**** Y ANA M. ABARZuA ***** . ABSTRACT This paper presents results on archaeological research conducted at the Cisnes river basin (~44° S), valley which passes through several environments in western Patagonia, from the westernmost limits of the steppe to the Pacific channels. These are assessed in light of a palaeoenvironmental reconstruc - tion spanning from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Results allow interpreting different ways for approaching the environment; these are exposed both spatially and chronologically. Cultural units defined occupied the space discontinuously and ranking it differentially attending to environmental variability. We

CAMPAMENTOS RESIDENCIALES TARDÍOS A CIELO ABIERTO EN EL ALTO RÍO CISNES (REGIÓN DE AISÉN): APPELEG 1 (CIS 009)

We present the results of ongoing research of an open-air site in the upper Cisnes river. Appeleg 1 is a multi- component open air settlement dating to the last 1.500 years that shows a significantly diverse artefact assemblage. We present the context of the site, methods employed for recording and collecting spatial data, and the results of different analysis conducted on recovered material. We discuss some of the issues raised by the dataset and examine the potential of the methodology to investigate other open-air sites.

Las Quemas Rockshelter: Understanding Human Occupations of Andean Forests of Central Patagonia (Aisén, Chile), Southern South America

Hunter-gatherer occupations of the forests of Patagonia are still not well understood compared to those of the open steppe and the coasts. The paucity of forest sites with a thorough chronological framework and the incomplete picture of climate-human dynamics in such environments pose a challenge to understanding the occupations of such habitats. This paper presents recent work at the Las Quemas rockshelter, an archaeological site located in the Andean forests of the Aisen region (44°38’ S) dating between 6100 and 2400 cal B.P. We examine the context of the site, its rock art, and the technological and functional dimensions of its lithic assemblage. By comparing these records with local environmental reconstructions that report forest area fluctuations after the Post-Glacial period, this study provides novel data for a comprehensive regional-scale model of human occupations in central Patagonian forests. Following an initial mid-Holocene occupation, recurring occupational events at the site coincide with a significant contraction of forested area in the region during the late Holocene. The results are discussed in regard to regional archaeological data and current models of forest occupation in Patagonia.

PRECISANDO LA CRONOLOGÍA PARA LA INHUMACIÓN TIPO CHENQUE, VALLE DEL RÍO CISNES (AISÉN, CHILE), PATAGONIA CENTRAL

** ABSTRACT Current research at Cisnes river basin lacked bioanthropological information. The recent finding of a disturbed chenque bearing human remains provides data related to these funerary contexts, inclu- ding chronological and isotopic information. The majority of known ages for this open-air burial-type in Pampa-Patagonia are limited to the last millennium. Results obtained at Pampa El Frio and others take back this mortuary pattern in 400 years.

Genomic insights into the origin and diversification of late maritime hunter-gatherers from the Chilean Patagonia

Significance Recent genomic studies of ancient and modern humans from the Americas have given a comprehensive view of the peopling of the continent. However, regional characterization of ancient and modern individuals is lacking, being key to unveiling fine-scale differences within the continent. We present genome-wide analyses of ancient and modern individuals from South America from Western Patagonia. We found a strong affinity between modern and ancient individuals from the region, providing evidence of continuity in the region for the last ∼1,000 years and regional genetic structure within Southern South America. In particular, the analysis of these ancient genomes helps address questions related to the maritime tradition in the region and its diversification posterior to the split from terrestrial hunter-gatherers. Patagonia was the last region of the Americas reached by humans who entered the continent from Siberia ∼15,000–20,000 y ago. Despite recent genomic approaches to reconstruct the continental evolutionary history, regional characterization of ancient and modern genomes remains understudied. Exploring the genomic diversity within Patagonia is not just a valuable strategy to gain a better understanding of the history and diversification of human populations in the southernmost tip of the Americas, but it would also improve the representation of Native American diversity in global databases of human variation. Here, we present genome data from four modern populations from Central Southern Chile and Patagonia (n = 61) and four ancient maritime individuals from Patagonia (∼1,000 y old). Both the modern and ancient individuals studied in this work have a greater genetic affinity with other modern Native Americans than to any non-American population, showing within South America a clear structure between major geographical regions. Native Patagonian Kawéskar and Yámana showed the highest genetic affinity with the ancient individuals, indicating genetic continuity in the region during the past 1,000 y before present, together with an important agreement between the ethnic affiliation and historical distribution of both groups. Lastly, the ancient maritime individuals were genetically equidistant to a ∼200-y-old terrestrial hunter-gatherer from Tierra del Fuego, which supports a model with an initial separation of a common ancestral group to both maritime populations from a terrestrial population, with a later diversification of the maritime groups.

CHENQUES EN EL CENTRO OESTE DE PATAGONIA (HOLOCENO TARDÍO FINAL, VALLE DE ÑIREHUAO, 45° S, CHILE)

espanolLa inhumacion tipo chenque se concentra en el ultimo milenio en el extremo mas austral del cono sur de Sudamerica. Los esfuerzos por entender esta modalidad, su distribucion espacio-temporal y el potencial de su informacion bioantropologica estan condicionados por el parcial muestreo espacial, la preservacion del material oseo y por el coleccionismo ilegal. En este articulo se presenta nueva informacion de cuatro chenques del valle andino de Nirehuao (Chile) en Patagonia central. Se busco obtener el maximo potencial de estos contextos aun cuando los restos se registraron en estado incompleto. Se sintetizan aspectos contextuales de la modalidad funeraria, se describen las caracteristicas bioantropologicas de los individuos, se presentan fechados radiocarbonicos y valores de isotopos estables del material oseo de cada uno de los individuos identificados y resultados de los analisis de composicion elemental del material metalico asociado a uno de ellos. A partir de ello, se confirma una antiguedad maxima de 1.510 anos cal a.p. para los chenques cercanos a los Andes de Patagonia Central, se muestran patrones isotopicos consistentes con dietas proteicas de amplio espectro y se revela la presencia de materiales exoticos sugerentes de un amplio traslado de bienes durante los siglos XII y XIII. EnglishThe chenque funerary-type concentrates in the last millennium in the southernmost area of the Southern Cone of South America. Efforts for understanding this funerary type, its spatio-temporal distribution, and thepotential of its bioanthropological information are conditioned by the partial spatial sampling, preservation of bone material, and illegal collecting. This paper presents novel information from four chenques of the Andean valley of Nirehuao (Chile) in central Patagonia. We sought to record the maximum potential of these contexts, even when the remains were recorded in incomplete state. This paper summarizes contextual aspects of the funerary type, describes the bioanthropological characteristics of the individuals, and presents the radiocarbon dates and the stable isotopes values on bone for each of the identified individuals, as well as the results of the elemental analysis of the metallic material associated with one of them. From this, we confirm a maximum age of 1510 cal years BP for the chenques close to the Andes of Central Patagonia, show isotopic patterns consistent with broad spectrum protein diets and reveal the presence of exotic materials suggestive of a wide-ranging transfer of goods during the 12 and 13th Centuries.