32
BUENO
Archaeology: Latin America
Human Occupations in the Lake Calafquen Temperate Rain Forest (39°S), Chile, during the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition Christian García P. With the exception of the archaeological site of Monte Verde, dated to 12,500 RCYBP (Dillehay and Pino 1997), initial occupations in the south of Chile have not been recognized, a situation which has led to a chrono-cultural gap between these and mid-Holocene occupations in the Pacific coast zone (Navarro and Pino 1999) and central valley (Navarro and Pino 1984). Nevertheless, research carried out between 1999 and 2001 in the Lake Calafquen area (Valdivia Province, X Region) has changed this scenario through the discovery of numerous occupations in rockshelters in the northeastern area of the lake, contributing to the understanding of early hunter-gatherer settlement in the Andean zone of south Chile. Particularly important are the findings at Marifilo-1 rockshelter (39° 30′ 48″ S), located in an environment dominated by temperate rain forest, active volcanoes, and great lakes. In this site, the research team revealed a long occupation sequence beginning in the late Pleistocene and ending ca. 500 RCYBP (Mera and García 2004). From this sequence we highlight two occupations dated during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and the early Holocene, which are part of the Christian García P., Area de Arqueología, Facultad de Estudios del Patrimonio Cultural, Universidad Internacional SEK, Campus Parque Arrieta, Av. José Arrieta 10000, Penalolen, Santiago, Chile; e-mail:
[email protected]
CRP 25, 2008
GARCÍA P.
33
early cultural component of this site. The earliest one, dated 10,190 ± 120 RCYBP (Beta-164475), would have existed at the time of rapid expansion of the thermophilous component of the Valdivian rain forest (Prumnopitis andina and Nothofagus dombeyi type), under paleoenvironmental conditions of increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation (Heusser 1984), after a great eruption of the Mocho-Choshuenco volcanic system, evidenced by plinian pumice stone present in local stratigraphy. This first occupation is characterized by the presence of a small fireplace next to the wall of the rockshelter, with which are associated 15 unmodified basalt flakes (Jackson and García 2006), bones of Pudu pudu and Pseudalopex griseus with intentional fractures and combustion marks, burnt Diplodon chilensis valves, and plant remains. After this occupation, the rockshelter would have been sporadically visited by carnivores, possibly by Felis concolor, signified by the presence of coprolites and bones of Pudu pudu with digestive acid corrosion marks. Separated from the former occupation both spatially and stratigraphically is the second occupation of the rockshelter, dated to 8420 ± 40 RCYBP (Beta138919), a period in which paleoenvironmental conditions were warmer and dryer, and Gramineae predominated (Heusser 1984). The evidence includes 18 unmodified basalt flakes, an ovoid pebble stone with use marks on one surface suggesting milling activities or its use as a polishing tool (Jackson and García 2006), bone remains of Pudu pudu with combustion marks, a bone artifact of unknown use made on a fragment of a Pudu pudu femur (García 2006), and burnt Diplodon chilensis valves and plant remains associated with a hearth. This occupational evidence of similar features reflects the exploitation of this lake and surroundings by hunter-gatherers who made use of natural shelters during their incursions in the area since the late Pleistocene. These occupations reveal the practice of expedient technology, as evidenced by lithic (Jackson and García 2006) and bone instruments (García 2006), a consequence of immediately available raw materials that required minimum energy to produce. Economic utility of vegetal species and freshwater molluscs from Lake Calafquen was also important, as were small mammals, probably captured with traps (Velásquez and Adán 2002). The absence of extinct mammal remains and formed flaked tools in Marifilo-1 reflects differences from the Monte Verde site and thereby expands our knowledge of the diversity of early human adaptations in the temperate rain forests of South America. This research was financed by Proyecto Fondecyt 1060216.
References Cited Dillehay, T., and M. Pino 1997 Radiocarbon Chronology. In Monte Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile. The Archaeological Context, edited by T. Dillehay, pp. 41–52. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. García, C. 2006 Los Artefactos Óseos de Marifilo 1. Una Aproximación a la Tecnología Ósea entre los Cazadores Recolectores de la Selva Valdiviana. Werken (8):91–100. Heusser, C. 1984 search 22:77–90.
Late-Glacial-Holocene Climate of the Lake District of Chile. Quaternary Re-
34
GARCÍA P.
Archaeology: Latin America
Jackson, D., and C. García 2006 Los Instrumentos Líticos de las Ocupaciones Tempranas de Marifilo 1. Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Arqueología (38):71–78. Mera, R., and C. García 2004 Alero Marifilo-1. Ocupación Holoceno Temprana en la Costa del Lago Calafquén (X Región, Chile). In Contra Viento y Marea. Arqueología de la Patagonia, edited by M. Civalero, P. Fernández and A. Guráieb, pp. 249–62. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, Buenos Aires. Navarro, X., and M. Pino 1984 Interpretación de una Ocupación Humana Precerámica en el Área Mapuche a Través de Estudios Líticos. Boletín del Museo Regional de La Araucanía (1):71–81. ——— 1999 Estrategias Adaptativas en Ambientes Costeros del Bosque Templado Lluvioso de la Zona Mapuche. Una Reflexión desde el Precerámico. In Soplando en el Viento. Actas de las III Jornadas de Arqueología de la Patagonia, edited by J. Belardi, P. Fernández, R. Goñi, A. Guráieb and M. De Nigris, pp. 65–82. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires. Velásquez, H., and L. Adán 2002 Evidencias Arqueofaunísticas del Sitio Alero Marifilo 1. Adaptación a los Bosques Templados de los Sistemas Lacustres Cordilleranos del Centro Sur de Chile. Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Arqueología (33-34):27–35.
