Browsing by Author "Godoy-Aguirre, Carolina"

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    Population dynamics and cultural niche construction during the Late Holocene in a mediterranean ecosystem (central Chile, 32°S-36°S)
    (2024) Godoy-Aguirre, Carolina; Frugone-Alvarez, Matias; Gayo, Eugenia M.; Campbell, Roberto; Lima, Mauricio; Maldonado, Antonio; Latorre, Claudio
    Understanding socio-ecological systems over the long term can shed light on past adaptive strategies in environmentally sensitive regions. Central Chile is an emblematic case study for mediterranean ecosystems, where a progressive and sustained population increase began approximately 2000 years ago alongside significant landscape changes. In this work we analyzed regional paleo-demographic trends by compiling a new database of archaeological dates over the last 3000 years, and integrating population dynamics theory with an analysis of the spatio-temporal variation of regional cultural stages. Results show three moments of marked acceleration in population growth: just before agricultural adoption, during the Archaic Period (c. 700-300 BCE); during the second half of the ECP (500-900 CE); and during the Late Intermediate Period (1200-1400 CE). We also identified periods of deceleration in per capita growth rates, although population size continued to increase (300 BCE-500 CE, 900-1200 CE and after 1400 CE). These large shifts in the per capita growth rates coincide with major cultural changes associated with social and economic aspects. The pulses of major occupation show in general terms a more intensive use of the valleys as the population size increased, although the remaining ecosystems never ceased to be occupied with different economic and symbolic emphases.
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    Silvopastoralism and the shaping of forest patches in the Atacama Desert during the Formative Period (ca. 3000-1500 years BP)
    (2022) McRostie, Virginia; Babot, Pilar; Calas, Elisa; Gayo, Eugenia; Gallardo, Francisco; Godoy-Aguirre, Carolina; Labarca, Rafael; Latorre, Claudio; Nunez, Lautaro; Ojeda, Karla; Santoro, Calogero M.; Valenzuela, Daniela
    During the Formative period by the Late-Holocene (ca. 3000-1500 BP), semi-sedentary and sedentary human occupations had emerged in the oases, salares, and riverine systems in the central depression (2400-1000 masl) of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile (19-25 degrees S). This hyperarid core was marginally occupied during the post-Pleistocene and middle Holocene droughts. Settlement on these lower belts was accompanied by a rise in humidity, the introduction of Andean crops, flourishment of Prosopis spp. (algarrobo) forests, and increasing integration of domestic camelid caravans. Here, we explore lowland husbandry within risk-spreading strategies, focusing on silvopastoralism and endozoochory between camelids and algarrobos. Analysis of camelid coprolites from seven archeological sites located in the Pampa del Tamarugal, Loa River, and Salar de Atacama found intense grinding from camelid chewing and indicated a ruminal digestive system. Abundant macro and microremains in the form of tissues, phytoliths, crystals, cell structures, and others, were identified as Prosopis, Atriplex, Schoenoplectus, Distichlis, and Phragmites. We conclude that camelids were foraging for Prosopis, although the rather low number of entire seeds preserved in the coprolites leads us to think that these herbivores might not have been the main vectors for the spread and germination of algarrobos. More samples and interdisciplinary studies are needed to comprehend the complex socioecological web in the shaping of these forests and the management of the Atacama Desert landscapes.
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    Taguatagua 3: A new late Pleistocene settlement in a highly suitable lacustrine habitat in central Chile (34°S)
    (2024) Labarca, Rafael; Frugone-Alvarez, Matias; Vilches, Liz; Blanco, Jose Francisco; Penaloza, Angela; Godoy-Aguirre, Carolina; Lizama-Catalan, Alvaro; Oyarzo, Cristobal; Tornero, Carlos; Gonzalez-Guarda, Erwin; Delgado, Ayelen; Sepulveda, Marcela; Soto-Huenchuman, Paula
    We present the results of the excavations and analyses of the diverse and exceptional archaeological assemblage of Taguatagua 3, a new late Pleistocene site located in the ancient Tagua Tagua lake in Central Chile (34 degrees S). The anthropogenic context is constrained in a coherently dated stratigraphic deposit which adds new information about the mobility, subsistence strategies, and settlement of the early hunter-gatherers of southern South America. The age model constructed, as well as radiocarbon dates obtained directly from a combustion structure, indicate that the human occupation occurred over a brief time span around 12,440-12,550 cal yr BP. Considering taphonomic, geoarchaeological, lithic, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological evidence, as well as the spatial distribution combined with ethnographic data, we interpret Taguatagua 3 as a logistic and temporary camp associated mainly with gomphothere hunting and butchering. Nevertheless, several other activities were carried out here as well, such as hide and/or bone preparation, small vertebrate and plant processing and consumption, and red ochre grinding. Botanical and eggshell remains suggest that the anthropic occupation occurred during the dry season. Considering the contemporaneous sites recorded in the basin, we conclude that the ancient Tagua Tagua lake was a key location along the region's early hunter-gatherer mobility circuits. In this context, it acted as a recurrent hunting/scavenging place during the Late Pleistocene due to its abundant, diverse, and predictable resources.