Poblamiento, movilidad y territorios entre las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras de Patagonia

Abstract

The Pleistocene-Holocene transition was a critical time for the dispersal of human societies all over South America. In fact, people looking for places to settle had to accept high environmental variability during the colonizing process. The case for this paper is Patagonia (Southern South America), where the oldest datings (ca. 1310.5 ka BP) have been obtained; the three mains spots are: 1) the western Andean basins, 2) the Deseado river basin and 3) the Magellan basin, including northern Tierra del Fuego. Following archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data (palynological, faunal, sedimentological and glaciological information), as well as radiocarbon datings, a hypothesis about the colonization of Patagonia is presented herein. It is proposed that independent peopling entries would have occurred both through the Atlantic and Pacific facades, and that the Andean foothills were colonized much later, only when the available spaces allowed it. All Patagonic space occurences colonized by hunter-gatherers highly mobiles.