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Mid-Holocene Climate and Culture Change in the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Martin Grosjean ,
Lautaro Núñez ,
Isabel Cartajena  and
Bruno Messerli
Martin Grosjean
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Bern, 12 Hallerstrasse, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland
Lautaro Núñez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciónes Arqueológicos y Museo, Universidad Católica del Norte, San Pedro de Atacama, II Region, Chile
Isabel Cartajena
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropologíá, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 10-115, Santiago, Chile
Bruno Messerli
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Bern, 12 Hallerstrasse, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland
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Abstract

Twenty archaeological campsites intercalated between more than 30 debris flows caused by heavy rainfall events between 6200 and 3100 14C yr B.P. have recently been discovered at Quebrada Puripica in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This record provides detailed information about extreme, short-lived climatic events during the hyperarid mid-Holocene period. For the first time, we found evidence of continuous human occupation in this area, filling the regional hiatus in the Atacama basin (“Silencio Arqueologico”) between 8000 and 4800 14C yr B.P. The transformation of Early Archaic hunters into the complex Late Archaic cultural tradition was an adaptive process. During this time, the site was a local ecological refuge with abundant resources in a generally hostile environment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , September 1997 , pp. 239 - 246
Copyright
University of Washington

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