Browsing by Author "Ugalde, Paula C."

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    Camelids in the hyperarid core of the Atacama desert 12,000-11,000 years ago? A stable isotope study and its consequences for early human settlement
    (2024) Ugalde, Paula C.; Gayo, Eugenia M.; Labarca, Rafael; Santoro, Calogero M.; Quade, Jay
    How did hunter-gatherers initially settle and move across extreme environments? We conducted a multi-disciplinary study to tackle this question, focusing on how Paleoindigenous populations inhabited the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert. Particularly, we examined the stable isotopic values of similar to 12,000-11,200-year-old camelid and rodent bones and hair samples retrieved from low-elevation archaeological sites (Pampa del Tamarugal basin - PdT, 800-1200 masl). By integrating novel and existing data into a regional stable isotope ecology, we offer a baseline for interpreting our results. delta C-13 and delta N-15 values on archaeological remains show animals with different geographical origins. A first group includes camelids and rodents with lower delta N-15 values and delta C-13 values indicating a dominantly C-3 diet, corresponding to animals either local to the PdT or from the Andean Steppe, at least similar to 80 km away and between 4000 and 4500 masl. Most of these remains, however, come from residential sites and belong to young camelids, indicating a local origin. A second group presents a higher delta N-15 signal and delta C-13 values indicative of a mixed C-3-C-4 based diet. These animals were not local but source to the Puna at least similar to 60 km away between 3200 - 4000 masl. We hypothesize that the first would correspond to animals associated with hunter-gatherer bands settled around a wetland and grove environment in the PdT. The second group could correspond to remains brought by humans from the Puna to the PdT. Our results demonstrate that during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene the Atacama was very different than today, supporting life that included large and mid-size game. These results also show that the core of the Atacama attracted animals and people and counters the notion of this ecosystem as a barren passageway from the Andes to the coast.
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    Continuities and discontinuities in the socio-environmental systems of the Atacama Desert during the last 13,000 years
    (2017) Santoro, Calogero M.; Capriles, José M.; Gayo Hernández, Eugenia Monserrat; De Porras, María Eugenia; Maldonado, Antonio; Standen, Vivien G.; Latorre H., Claudio; Castro, Victoria; Marquet, P. A. (Pablo A.); Mc Rostie Bustamante, Virginia Bernardita; Uribe, Mauricio; Valenzuela, Daniela; Ugalde, Paula C.; Angelo, Dante
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    FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE TROPICAL FORESTS: NETWORKS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION IN THE ATACAMA DESERT, LATE IN THE PLEISTOCENE
    (2019) Santoro, Calogero M.; Gayo, Eugenia M.; Capriles, Jose M.; Rivadeneira, Marcelo M.; Herrera, Katherine A.; Mandakovic, Valentina; Rallo, Monica; Rech, Jason A.; Cases, Barbara; Briones, Luis; Olguin, Laura; Valenzuela, Daniela; Borrero, Luis A.; Ugalde, Paula C.; Roihhanuner, Francisco; Latorre, Claudio; Szpak, Paul
    The social groups that initially inhabited the hyper arid core of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile during the late Pleistocene integrated a wide range of local, regional and supra regional goods and ideas for their social reproduction as suggested by the archaeological evidence contained in several open camps in Pampa del Tamarugal (PdT). Local resources for maintaining their every-day life, included stone raw material, wood, plant and animal fibers, game, and fresh water acquired within a radius of similar to 30 km (ca. 1-2 days journey). At a regional scale, some goods were introduced from the Pacific coast (60-80 km to the west, ca. 3-4 days journey), including elongated rounded cobbles used as hammer stones in lithic production, and shells, especially from non-edible species of mollusks. From the Andes (ranging 80-150 km to the east, ca. 5-8 days of journey), they obtained camelid fiber, obsidian and a high-quality chalcedony, in addition to sharing knowledge on projectile point designs (Patapatane and Tuina type forms). Pieces of wood of a tropical forest tree species (Ceiba spp.) from the east Andean lowlands (600 km away, ca. 30 days of journey) were also brought to the PdT. While local goods were procured by the circulation of people within the PdT, the small number of foreign items would have been acquired through some sort of exchange networks that integrated dispersed local communities throughout several ecosystems. These networks may have been a key factor behind the success exhibited by these early huntergatherers in the hyper arid ecosystems of the Atacama Desert at the end of the Pleistocene.
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    The first peoples of the Atacama Desert lived among the trees: A 11,600-to 11,200-year- old grove and congregation site
    (2024) Ugalde, Paula C.; Joly, Delphine; Latorre, Claudio; Gayo, Eugenia M.; Labarca, Rafael; Simunovic, Mikhaela; Mcrostie, Virginia; Holliday, Vance T.; Quade, Jay; Santoro, Calogero M.
    In deserts, water has been singled out as the most important factor for choosing where to settle, but trees were likely an important part of the landscape for hunter - gatherers beyond merely constituting an economic resource. Yet, this critical aspect has not been considered archaeologically. Here, we present the results of mapping and radiocarbon dating of a truly unique archaeological record. Over 150 preserved stumps around five Late Pleistocene/ Early Holocene archaeological campsites (12,800 to 11,200 cal BP) show that trees were key features in the creation of everyday habitats for the first inhabitants of the Atacama Desert. At two of these sites, QM12 and QM35, the spatial and chronological correlation between trees and hearths reveals that people located their homes under the tree canopy. At residential site QM35, artifact distribution coincides with a grove dated to - 11,600 to 11,200 cal BP. A third residential area (QM32) occurred along the grove margins - 12,000 to 11,200 cal BP. Based on the distinct cultural material of these two camps, we propose that two different groups intermittently shared this rich wetland - grove environment. The tree taxa suggest a preference for the native Schinus molle, a tree scarcely present on the landscape today, over the endemic, nitrogen - fixing Strombocarpa tamarugo , both for toolmaking and firewood and even though the S. tamarugo was locally more abundant. Together with the spatial and chronological coincidence of campsites, hearths, and trees, we propose that people spared the most abundant and resilient species to create their homes, in turn promoting fertility oases amid the Atacama's hyperaridity.