Prehistoric human occupation in the arid chacabuco-colina ecotone in central chile

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on a diachronic analysis of settlement and subsistence patterns in an arid ecotone setting located between two forest zones in central Chile. Extensive survey and limited excavation show that the majority of sites of all culture historical periods are centrally located in the ecotone, suggesting that prehispanic societies concentrated on the exploitation of plant foods in all zones, particularly the seeds and fruit of the carob tree, and processed them at tacita (cup stone) sites. Hunting seems to have been a secondary economic activity. Although local indigenous populations eventually developed an incipient agricultural lifeway dependent on corn, beans, squash, and other domesticates, they continued to rely heavily on the carob as a primary food staple unitl the late historic period. The general prehistory of the region is discussed in terms of culture ecology and specifically subsistence and settlement patterns. The importance of the prehistory of this region to Chile is also considered as well as the attempt by archeologists to save the sites from destruction by modern development.