Browsing by Author "Carrasco, Carlos"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Chronological sequence (early and late Holocene) and cultural trajectories in Quebrada Pedernales, southern Puna, Chile (26°S-3,456-3,730 masl)
    (2023) Mendoza, Patricio Lopez; Carrasco, Carlos; Loyola, Rodrigo; Mendez, Victor; Varas, Daniel; Diaz, Pablo; Santana-Sagredo, Francisca; Quiroz, Luciana; Soto, Angelica; Flores-Aqueveque, Valentina; Maldonado, Antonio; Vera, Francisca; Bravo, Alvaro; Hernandez, Daniel; Alamos, Ignacio; Orrego, Vanessa
    This article presents the results of the interdisciplinary investigation in Quebrada Pedernales (26 degrees S-69 degrees W, Chile 3456 masl), in the highlands of northern Chile. The excavations and surveys carried out revealed a great diversity of pre-Hispanic evidence in an area of the Andes that has been little investigated. This evidence allowed us to reconstruct a sequence of continuous occupation between 11,201-11,612 and 539-634 cal. BP. Zooarchaeological, radiocarbon, technological, geochemical, and carpological analyses suggest wide mobility circuits between the coast and the puna on both slopes of the Andes at the start of the Holocene, coinciding with improved environmental conditions in this area and greater aridity on the coast. A severe lack of human occupation is observed during the mid-Holocene, a phenomenon associated with extreme arid environmental conditions. These trends indicate that the southern limit of influence of this environmental event, which has been recorded in a large part of the south-central Andes, extended into the study area, with a direct impact on the settlement and mobility of human groups. Towards ca. 3000 cal. BP, environmental conditions similar to those of today are associated with the reappearance of archaeological evidence and greater complexity in the formation of settlements, especially in terms of hunting activities.
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    Huentelauquén coastal groups in the Andean highlands? An assessment of human occupations of the Early Holocene in Salar de Pedernales, Chile (26°S, 3356 masl)
    (2022) López, Patricio; Carrasco, Carlos; Loyola, Rodrigo; Flores-Aqueveque, Valentina; Maldonado, Antonio; Santana Sagredo, Francisca; Méndez, Víctor; Díaz, Pablo; Varas, Daniel; Soto, Angélica
    We present new evidence obtained in archaeological surveys in Quebrada Pedernales (3356 masl), in the southern puna of Chile (26°S; 69°W). A series of surface findings such as large lanceolate stemmed projectile points and geometric stones, together with chronostratigraphic and artifactual data recovered in excavations at the Pedernales-38 site, suggest that the coastal Huentelauquén groups explored and inhabited the Andean highlands between 10,151 and 9695 cal yr BP. The archaeological record is discussed as it relates to the known evidence for this cultural complex, recognized principally on the Pacific coast. The archaeological findings allow us to broaden the diversity of environments exploited by coastal populations of the Early Holocene, and provide new data on their mobility and settlement strategies.
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    Human dynamics in the Southern Puna of Chile (25°-27°s) during the Late Holocene: abandonment, re-occupation and diversification
    (2024) López Mendoza, Patricio; Loyola, Rodrigo; Carrasco, Carlos; Latorre, Elvira; Méndez Muñoz, Victor Andrés
    We discuss the process of human re-occupation of the Southern Puna (25°-27°S) during the Late Holocene through a variety of lines of evidence, such as ceramics, faunal bones, lithic technology, sources of raw materials like obsidian, and rock art, and their integration with spatial analyses using least-cost paths. Our results indicate a process in which niches were formed in the puna, focused on a variety of activities such as vicuña hunting; exploitation of lithic sources, minerals and pigments; camelid grazing; symbolic manifestations, and inter-Andean circulation. This suggests that human dynamics in the highlands of the Southern Puna toward the Late Holocene were motivated by a range of biotic and abiotic resources, and different modes of occupation, which tended to become diversified in the long term; nevertheless, they retained a common base in vicuña hunting and obsidian procurement, circulation and exchange.
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    Late Pleistocene human occupations in the southern puna, Chile (12,4-10,7 ka cal. BP): Primary results from the Salar de Infieles (25°S, 3529 m. a.s.l.)
    (2023) Mendoza, Patricio Lopez; Carrasco, Carlos; Loyola, Rodrigo; Mendez, Victor; Blanco, Elvira Latorre; Diaz-Jarufe, Pablo; Flores-Aqueveque, Valentina; Varas, Daniel; Santana-Sagredo, Francisca; Orrego, Vanessa; Soto, Angelica; Maldonado, Antonio; Maturana-Fernandez, Anahi
    This article presents the results of excavations at the Infieles-1 site, located at 3529 m. a.s.l. in the Salar de Infieles (25 degrees S), highlands of the Chile's southern Puna ecoregion. An initial human occupation was discovered next to an ignimbrite rock-shelter at a depth of 70-80 cm on top of a volcanic ash deposit, dated between 10,798 and 12,440 cal yr BP. The archaeological record consists of lithic wasted-flakes and knapping debris, an ultra-marginal andesite side-scraper, vicuna bone fragments and traces of red mineral pigment. As far as now, this event is the first human occupation recorded in the southern Puna. It is a camp associated with more favourable environmental conditions during the late Central Andean Pluvial Event II (CAPE II). (C) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Pedernales-5: An enclave for flamingo (Phoenicopteridae) exploitation during the Early Holocene in the Chilean southern Puna (26°S-69°W)
    (SAGE Publications, 2024) López, Patricio; Loyola, Rodrigo; Carrasco, Carlos; Roa Solís, Constanza; Varas, Daniel; Santana Sagredo, Francisca; Méndez Muñoz, Víctor Andrés; Bravo, Gabriela; Latorre, Elvira; Sáez, Alina; Orrego, Vanessa; Sperling, Ariel
    We present the results of an interdisciplinary study conducted at the Pedernales-5 site, situated in the Salar de Pedernales basin (26°S; 3356 masl), dated from 10,510−10,749 to 11,201−11,612 cal. BP. Unlike other Late Pleistocene and Holocene sites in the Andean Puna, where vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) were the primary prey, at Pedernales-5, the zooarcheological assemblage consists almost exclusively of flamingo (Phoenicopteridae) and bird remains. Through the analysis of lithic and bone artifacts, archeobotanical remains, pigment composition, and paleoenvironmental data, we propose that the emphasis on flamingo exploitation cannot be solely explained by alimentary consumption but also served cultural and symbolic purposes related to the acquisition of feathers, hides, and bones. The unique archeological context of Pedernales-5 offers a distinctive perspective on human dynamics in the Andean highlands during the Early Holocene.
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    Provenance and long-term circulation of archaeological obsidian in the Puna de Copiapo (25-27°S), South-Central Andes
    (2023) Loyola, Rodrigo; Lopez-Mendoza, Patricio; Carrasco, Carlos; Glascock, Michael D.; Flores-Aqueveque, Valentina; Mendez, Victor; Varas, Daniel; Orrego, Vanessa
    We present obsidian compositional data obtained by X-ray fluorescence analysis in the Andean highlands (25-27 degrees S/68-69 degrees W) of northern Chile. Seventy-six samples (n = 76) from three lithic sources and six archaeological sites were analyzed, covering a chronological sequence from 10,100 to 500 cal BP. Compositional analyses indicate the exploitation of the Cienaga Redonda and Cerro Manchado local sources as well as Ona-Las Cuevas and Salar del Hombre Muerto located between 200 and 230 km away on the eastern slope of the Andes, in northwestern Argentina. The results obtained show that the Puna de Copiapo has been a key area for circulation between the eastern and western slopes of the Andes since pre-Columbian times.
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    Technological and Protein Residue Analysis on Ancient Stemmed Projectile Points of the Southern Andes Highlands
    (2024) Loyola, Rodrigo; López-Mendoza, Patricio; Carrasco, Carlos; Walker, Cam; Fagan, John; Méndez Muñoz, Víctor Andrés; Santana Sagredo, Francisca; Flores Aqueveque, Valentina; Soto, Angélica
    We present the results of technological and protein residue analyses of the lithic assemblagesrecovered at the Pedernales-38 site (26.5°S; 69°W), located in the highlands of the southernAndes (3380 masl). Based on a reconstruction of the operational chains and the differentialrepresentation of their phases, we suggest that the final production, use, maintenance, anddiscard of large stemmed projectile points occurred at the site. Of the assemblage studied, nine(9) projectile points and one end-scraper were subjected to residue analysis using cross-overimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP). Four positive reactions to antisera of human, camelid (guanacoor vicuña) and canid (Andean fox) were recorded. The results are discussed based on thedepositional context and the structure of the archeological record. We propose that Pedernalesprojectile points were mainly used in hunting weapons to capture wild camelids during theseasonal occupation of the Andes highlands