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Funerary art has the body as its main material component, expresses responses to death and offers insight into relationships between the living and the dead. Chinchorro hunter-gatherer-fisher societies along the Atacama Desert coast provide a key example of such connections, having developed one of the world's oldest-known systems of post-mortem body transformation (c. 7000–3250 BP). A study of 162 modified Chinchorro bodies identifies diachronic changes in these practices, including a decrease in internal stuffing—adding invisible contents that created corporeal volume—and an increase in external body treatment that created visible features. The authors propose that such manipulation was a meaningful form of social embodiment designed to construct a collective identity.

As insignia of power and prestige, Inka unku (tapestry tunics) communicated the strength and extent of Inka sociopolitical hegemony in the Andes. Of the 36 known full-size examples in museum collections, only one, found in Argentina, comes from outside Peru. This article investigates another recently excavated unku found out of context on Chile's northernmost coast. To confirm its authenticity, we compiled a database showing the technical and stylistic attributes of previous finds for comparison. We conclude that this artifact is indeed a new type of unku and that the discovery affects our understanding of the complex relationship between the people of this province and the Inka state.

In the Atacama Desert from northern Chile (19–24°S), Prosopis (Leguminosae) individuals are restricted to oases that are unevenly distributed and isolated from each other by large stretches of barren landscape constituting an interesting study model as the degree of connectivity between natural populations depends on their dispersal capacity and the barriers imposed by the landscape. Our goal was to assess the genetic diversity and the degree of differentiation among groups of Prosopis individuals of different species from Section Algarobia and putative hybrids (hereafter populations) co‐occurring in these isolated oases from the Atacama Desert and determine whether genetic patterns are associated with dispersal barriers. Thirteen populations were sampled from oases located on three hydrographic basins (Pampa del Tamarugal, Rio Loa, and Salar de Atacama; northern, central, and southern basins, respectively). Individuals genotyped by eight SSRs show high levels of genetic diversity (H O = 0.61, A r = 3.5) and low but significant genetic differentiation among populations (F ST = 0.128, F ST‐ENA = 0.129, D JOST = 0.238). The AMOVA indicates that most of the variation occurs within individuals (79%) and from the variance among individuals (21%); almost, the same variation can be found between basins and between populations within basins. Differentiation and structure results were not associated with the basins, retrieving up to four genetic clusters and certain admixture in the central populations. Pairwise differentiation comparisons among populations showed inconsistencies considering their distribution throughout the basins. Genetic and geographic distances were significantly correlated at global and within the basins considered (p, We assess the genetic diversity and the degree of differentiation among groups of Prosopis individuals of different species from Section Algarobia and putative hybrids co‐occurring in isolated oases from the Atacama Desert (19–24°S) in Chile. Genetic results are discussed in relation to the fragmented landscape, considering both natural and non‐natural (humans) dispersal agents that may be moving Prosopisin the desert.

The archaeological record shows that large pre-Inca agricultural systems supported settlements for centuries around the ravines and oases of northern Chile’s hyperarid Atacama Desert. This raises questions about how such productivity was achieved and sustained, and its social implications. Using isotopic data of well-preserved ancient plant remains from Atacama sites, we show a dramatic increase in crop nitrogen isotope values (δ15N) from around ad 1000. Maize was most affected, with δ15N values as high as +30‰, and human bone collagen following a similar trend; moreover, their carbon isotope values (δ13C) indicate a considerable increase in the consumption of maize at the same time. We attribute the shift to extremely high δ15N values—the highest in the world for archaeological plants—to the use of seabird guano to fertilize crops. Guano—‘white gold’ as it came to be called—thus sustained agricultural intensification, supporting a substantial population in an otherwise extreme environment. The source of pre-Inca agriculture in the Atacama Desert of Chile has been the subject of multiple theories, but this Article uses preserved maize remains to deduce that coastal guano deposits were utilized in an impressive display of social and ecological sophistication.

Pre-European Plant Consumption and Cultural Changes in the Coastal Lluta Valley, Atacama Desert, Northern Chile (Ca. 5140–390 Cal Yr BP). The introduction of domesticated plants into ancient hunting and gathering economic systems expanded and transformed human societies worldwide during the Holocene. These transformations occurred even in the oases and hyperarid environments of the Atacama Desert along the Pacific coast. Human groups inhabiting this desert incorporated adjacent habitats to the semi-tropical valleys through transitory or logistic camps like Morro Negro 1 (MN-1), in the Lluta valley (~12 km from the littoral in northernmost Chile), into their settlement patterns. During the earliest occupation (Late Archaic period, 5140–4270 cal yr BP) people collected and consumed wild plants, although crops such as Lagenaria were present. Following a gap of more than 2000 years between 4270 and 1850, people returned and introduced new domesticated plants at the site (Gossypium, Zea mays, Capsicum), which displaced the use of wild reed (Schoenoplectus) rhizomes as the chief staple during the first occupation. This change in food consumption was linked to the transformations that took place during the Archaic-Formative transition, but did not entirely shift the ways of life of these coastal marine hunter-gatherers.

Throughout Earth’s most extreme environments, such as the Kalahari Desert or the Arctic, hunter–gatherers found ingenious ways to obtain proteins and sugars provided by plants for dietary requirements. In the hyperarid Atacama Desert, wild plant resources are scarce and unevenly distributed due to limited water availability. This study brings together all available archaeobotanical evidence gathered in the Atacama Desert from the Late Pleistocene (ca. 13,000 cal bp) until the Inka epoch (ca. 450 cal bp) to help us comprehend when these populations acquired and managed useful plants from the coastal zone, Intermediate Depression, High Andes, as well as tropical and subtropical ecosystems. Widespread introduction of farming crops, water control techniques and cultivation of diverse plants by 3,000 cal bp ended not only a chronic food shortage, but also led to the establishment of a set of staple foods for the Atacama Desert dwellers, a legacy that remains visible today. By contrasting these trends with major sociocultural changes, together with palaeodemographic and climatic fluctuations, we note that humans adapted to, and transformed this hyperarid landscape and oscillating climate, with plants being a key factor in their success. This long-term process, which we term the “Green Revolution”, coincided with an exponential increase in the number of social groups inhabiting the Atacama Desert during the Late Holocene.

Pastoralism and camelid management are traditionally attributed to the sociopolitical, economic and cosmovision of Andean populations, rather than to lowland hunter gatherer societies, living on the Pacific coast where camelid hunting is considered a marginal activity, and husbandry is a difficult enterprise given the hyper-arid conditions of lowland terrestrial ecosystems. Contrary to this interpretative historical view, our stable isotope analyses applied to 48 camelid fiber samples, suggests this highly valued camelid byproduct was obtained from camelids sustained on lomas vegetation formations during the Archaic (ca. 6500-4000 cal yr BP), Formative (ca. 4000-1500 cal yr BP) and Late periods (ca. 660-480 cal yr BP).

Camelid caravans have played a key role in the complex systems of interregional social interaction that characterizes Andean history. In the northernmost region of Chile, the most frequent archaeological indicators of these caravan systems are trails and rock art images. Cruces de Molinos (LL-43), a rock art site in the Lluta valley, 1100 masl, 40 km from the Pacific littoral, expands the ceremonial role of rock art sites, materialized, not only as regards the iconography portrayed and alluding to these practices, but also in terms of articulated carcass remains and detached anatomical units of camelids, intentionally deposited in a cache beneath one of the engraved blocks. This paper analyzes the site considering the visual imagery, spatial location, archaeological deposits and features associated with rock art. Based on the predominance of camelid and caravan motifs in rock art images, the extraordinary setting and location of the site on the valley's upper slopes, which is far removed from local settlements, but closely connected with a llama caravan trade network linking the chaupiyunga ecozone with the highlands (sierra and Altiplano ecozones), we suggest that Cruces de Molinos was not a rest stop for caravanners, but a ceremonial place, and not for local farmers, but for highland herders. According to seven accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates that place the occupation between cal. 1060–1190 CE in the Late Intermediate period.

About 13,000 calendar years ago, the Atacama Desert (18–26°S) was occupied by some of the human groups who had begun to populate South America. The archaeological evidence from six sites located in...

The Pacific Ocean that flanks the hyperarid Atacama Desert of Northern Chile is one of the richest biomass producers around the world. Thus, it is considered a key factor for the subsistence of prehistoric societies (including mixed-economy groups), that inhabited its coastal ecosystems as well as the neighboring inland areas. This study assesses the Arica Culture groups' diet (Late Intermediate Period; 1000–1530 CE), through stable isotope (on bone-collagen; δ13C and δ15N) and dental pathology data. Seventy-seven (n = 77) individuals from two inland (LLU54 and AZ8) and one coastal (CAM8) archaeological sites were studied. Results show an important, but lower than predicted by earlier studies, contribution of marine resources in the diet of all three groups. Dental pathologies and stable isotopes indicate that these groups' diet varied in correlation with their distance to the Pacific Ocean as well as group and individual preferences. The results challenge the idea that Arica Culture groups depended heavily on marine resources for their subsistence. In contrast, this study shows both that the Arica Culture groups’ diet was diverse, and that the terrestrial resources consumed were mostly contributed by C3/CAM plants instead of maize.

A key concern regarding current and future climate change is the possibility of sustained droughts that can have profound impacts on societies. As such, multiple paleoclimatic proxies are needed to identify megadroughts, the synoptic climatology responsible for these droughts, and their impacts on past and future societies. In the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile, many streams are characterized by perennial flow and support dense in-stream wetlands. These streams possess sequences of wetland deposits as fluvial terraces that record past changes in the water table. We mapped and radiocarbon dated a well-preserved sequence of in-stream wetland deposits along a 4.3-km reach of the Río San Salvador in the Calama basin to determine the relationship between regional climate change and the incision of in-stream wetlands. The Río San Salvador supported dense wetlands from 11.1 to 9.8, 6.4 to 3.5, 2.8 to 1.3, and 1.0 to 0.5 ka and incised at the end of each of these intervals. Comparison with other in-stream wetland sequences in the Atacama Desert, and with regional paleoclimatic archives, indicates that in-stream wetlands responded similarly to climatic changes by incising during periods of extended drought at ~9.8, 3.5, 1.3, and 0.5 ka.

Recovery methods and techniques for archaeological sampling can yield major differences in abundance and anatomo-taxonomical representation of animals, affecting past social and ecological reconstruction. Despite being a common organic material in archaeological sites, faunal remains typically exhibit differential preservation of species and skeletal elements due to pre- and post-depositional processes. This is particularly true for small-sized animals such as certain species of fish, whose often small and fragile fragments are difficult to recover and identify. Here, we present the results of a comparative analysis between two ichthyoarchaeological assemblages from Caleta Vitor 3 in northern Chile (CV3, 18°45′09″ S), an Early to Middle Holocene (9.2–7.6 ka cal BP) Chinchorro shell midden site. We compare samples obtained and processed, both in the field and the lab, using different recovery techniques. We developed a data standardisation procedure to compare and evaluate skeletal representation, taxa distribution and variations throughout the stratigraphic sequence. Our results show that mesh screen size affects not only the abundance and density of fish but also species representation. Moreover, the identification of small pelagic fish at CV3 sheds further light upon prehistoric fishing strategies and social organisation during the site’s early occupation., This work was supported by FONDECYT [grant number 1150763] project under grant Becas Chile – Doctorado en el Extranjero 2018. The authors thank FONDECYT [grant number 1191568] (to C. L. and C. M. S.) and the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Chile) [grant number AFB170008] for funding past and ongoing excavations. S. R. and D. Z. acknowledge Grups de Recerca de Qualitat CaSEs – Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics [grant number 2017 SGR 212], AGAUR-Generalitat de Catalunya for funding this work in the 40th AEA Conference. C. L. and C. M. S. also acknowledge ongoing funding from the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Chile), Millennium Nucleus UPWELL [grant number NCN19_153]., We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

South America is well known for its abundance of Quaternary fossiliferous deposits, but well-preserved fossil remains from well-dated sites are scarce in the Atacama Desert and adjacent arid Andes. Here we report on a partially complete skeleton (46%) of a single young (ca. 3–4 years old) extinct horse discovered in the Salar de Surire, a salt flat located on the Andean altiplano of northern Chile (4,250 m asl). Comparative and osteometric morphological analyses identify the specimen as a South American endemic horse Hippidion saldiasi Roth, 1899. A direct AMS radiocarbon date on bone collagen yielded a calibrated age of 13,170 cal yr BP (2σ range: 13,300–13,060 cal yr BP) indicating that it lived near the end of the last glaciation. The body mass of the individual was calculated at approximately 326.4 kg, close to the upper limit of the larger sizes reported for the genus. Stable isotope evidence shows that the Salar de Surire horse relied on an almost 100% C3 diet that is mostly consistent with Hippidion specimens from other environments that also consumed either mixed C3/C4 or fully C3 diets. This finding is now the southernmost high-elevation record for this species and provides further evidence for the broad geographic and ecological distribution of this genus throughout southern South America.

The halite-encrusted salt pans (salars) present at low elevations in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile are unique features of one of the driest and possibly oldest deserts on Earth. Here we show that these landscapes were shallow freshwater lakes and wetlands during the last glacial period and formed periodically between ∼46.9 ka and 7.7 ka. The moisture appears to have been sourced from increased Andean runoff and most of our chronologies for these deposits were coeval with the Central Andean Pluvial Event (17.5–14.2 ka and 13.8–9.7 ka), but we also find evidence for older as well as slightly younger wet phases. These environments supported a diverse hygrophytic-halophytic vegetation, as well as an array of diatoms and gastropods. Using a regional hydrological model, we estimate that recharge rates from 1.5 to 4 times present were required to activate and maintain these wetlands in the past. Activation in the late Pleistocene was part of a regional enhancement of water resources, extending from the Andes, downstream and through riparian corridors, to the lowest and most arid portions of the desert itself. This fundamentally unique environment was encountered by the earliest human explorers in the region, and most likely facilitated migration and encampments on a landscape that at present lacks macroscopic life on its surface.

A review of the bioarchaeological collections from the site Morro de Arica in northern Chile allowed the identification of two cases of human polydactyly. Both cases are from the Chinchorro culture, hunters, fishers, and gatherers with a maritime orientation who inhabited the coast of the Atacama Desert (9000–3400 BP). Additionally, the analyses of 75 rock art sites in the area, from the Formative to Late Intermediate Periods (3000–550 BP), allowed the identification of hands and feet with six digits. Given the bioarchaeological record of polydactyly, it is highly probable that the rock art images were based on real individuals with polydactyly. However, the Sr chemical signal in a juvenile with polydactyly is the same as the Sr chemical signal in the rest of the individuals buried in the same site, proving that all the individuals were born and lived on the coast. We discuss the idea that, although these anomalies could have been the result of genetic mutations, endogamy and exposition to ecotoxic environments could also be at play within the Chinchorro groups.

Chapter 2 reviews ancient maritime communities for the hyperarid coast of northern Chile and southernmost Peru throughout the Holocene, with focus on the mid-Holocene Archaic Period. Two regions represent the exorheic and arheic coasts: Caleta Vitor (9,500 cal BP through the Inca occupation) and Copaco (mostly 7100 to 5200 cal BP), respectively. Despite some signs of increasing complexity, the authors conclude that maritime societies of this region remained relatively egalitarian up to the Spanish Conquest. In this hyperarid region, marine resources were always extremely important.

Author(s): Capriles, Jose M.; Tripcevich, Nicholas; Nielsen, Axel E.; Glascock, Michael D.; Albarracin-Jordan, Juan; Santoro, Calogero M.

The Altiplano constitutes the most extensive, high-elevation terrain in South America. Most archaeological research on the earliest human occupation of this region in the Bolivian Andes derives from sites such as Viscachani where the emphasis has been on typological comparisons of projectile points, rather than on complete and radiometrically dated assemblages. In this paper, we present survey and excavation data from the Iroco region in the Central Altiplano of Bolivia to address questions related to the adaptive strategies engaged by Archaic Period highland foragers. Specifically, we focus on the nature of mobility, subsistence, and technological strategies, stemmed from principles in human behavioral ecology. Based on data from radiocarbon dates, lithic, and faunal analyses, we suggest that, similar to other mobile foraging societies in arid environments, highland foragers in Iroco engaged in seasonal residential mobility, consumed a broad range of faunal resources, and developed a curated technological toolkit within the context of ameliorated environmental conditions that prevailed during the early Holocene (11,500–8000 cal BP).

The Neolithic or Formative Period in the New World drastically transformed the mode of production in human societies with the domestication of plants and animals. It impacted the way of life and social relations among individuals in permanent farming villages. Moreover, the emergence of elites and social inequality fostered interpersonal and inter- and intra-group violence associated with the defense of resources, socio-economic investments, and other cultural concerns. This study evaluated violence among the first horticulturalists in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile during the Neolithic transition between 1000 BCE – 600 CE. Furthermore, it analyzed trauma caused by interpersonal violence using a sample of 194 individuals. Strontium isotopic composition was examined to determine whether violence was local or among foreign parties. Settlement patterns, weapons, and rock art also were evaluated to assess expressions of violence. Skeletal and soft tissues presented the most direct evidence for violence. About 21% (n = 40) of adult individuals, particularly men, showed trauma compatible with interpersonal violence, with 50% (n = 20) of trauma appearing fatal. The findings suggested that violence was between local groups and that social and ecological constraints likely triggered violence within local communities.

Understanding how human societies interacted with environmental changes is a major goal of archaeology and other socio-natural sciences. In this paper, we assess the human-environment interactions in the Pampa del Tamarugal (PDT) basin of the Atacama Desert over the last 13,000 years. By relying on a socio-environmental model that integrates ecosystem services with adaptive strategies, we review past climate changes, shifting environmental conditions, and the continuities and discontinuities in the nature and intensity of the human occupation of the PDT. As a result we highlight the importance of certain key resources such as water, an essential factor in the long-term trajectory of eco-historical change. Without water the outcome of human societies becomes hazardous.

The high Andes of western South America feature extreme ecological conditions that impose important physiological constraints on humans including high-elevation hypoxia and cold stress. This leads to questions regarding how these environments were colonized by the first waves of humans that reached them during the late Pleistocene. Based on previous research, and aided by human behavioral ecology principles, we assess hunter-gatherer behavioral strategies in the Andean highlands during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Specifically, we formulate three mobility strategies and their archaeological expectations and test these using technological and subsistence evidence from the six earliest well-dated highland sites in northern Chile. Our results suggest that all of the studied sites were temporarily occupied for hunting, processing animals, and toolkit maintenance. The sites also exhibit shared technological features within a curatorial strategy albeit with different occupation intensities. ...

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 ∼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. Different lines of archaeological evidence including open camps, workshop-quarries, lithic artifacts, archaeofaunal remains, plant and animal fibers and textiles, archaeobotanical remains, and paleoecological data show that people of the PdT managed a wide range of cultural items from the Pacific coast, the Andean highland and the tropical forest, that were integrated with resources gathered locally within the socio-cultural systems established by the end of the Pleistocene. These results are interpreted as material expressions of multi-scalar networking for resource management and other social material and immaterial requirements, which in other words, means that these people were actively connected to regional (coastal and highland), and supra-regional (trans-Andean) exchange networks from and out of the PdT. Los grupos sociales que inicialmente habitaban el núcleo hiperárido del Desierto de Atacama en el norte de Chile durante el Pleistoceno tardío integraron una amplia gama de bienes e ideas, locales, regionales y supra regionales, para su reproducción social, como lo sugieren las evidencias arqueológicas materiales recuperadas en varios campamentos al aire libre en Pampa del Tamarugal (PdT). Los recursos locales para mantener su vida diaria, incluían materias primas líticas, fibras de plantas y animales, presas de caza y agua dulce adquiridos en un radio de ̴30 km (ca. 1-2 días de viaje). A escala regional, se introdujeron algunos elementos desde la costa del Pacífico (60-80 km hacia el oeste, ca. 3 a 4 días de viaje), incluidos rodados redondeados alargados, utilizados como percutores en la producción lítica y conchas, especialmente de especies no comestibles de moluscos. Desde los Andes (80-150 km al este, ca. 5-8 días de viaje), obtuvieron fibra de camélido, obsidiana y una calcedonia de alta calidad, además de compartir conocimientos sobre diseños de puntas de proyectil (tipo Patapatane y Tuina). También se llevaron a la PdT trozos de madera de una especie de árbol de los bosques tropicales (Ceiba spp.) de las tierras bajas al este de los Andes (600 km de distancia, ca. 30 días de viaje). Mientras que los bienes locales fueron adquiridos por la circulación de personas dentro de la PdT, el pequeño número de artículos foráneos se adquirieron a través de redes de intercambio que integraron comunidades locales dispersas en varios ecosistemas; lo que debió ser un factor clave detrás del éxito demostrado por estos primeros cazadores-recolectores en los ecosistemas hiperáridos del Desierto de Atacama hacia el final del Pleistoceno. Diferentes líneas de evidencia arqueológica que incluyen campamentos al aire libre, talleres, canteras, artefactos líticos, restos arqueofaunales, fibras y textiles de plantas y animales, restos arqueobotánicos y datos paleoecológicos, muestran que la gente de la PdT manejaron una amplia gama de elementos culturales desde la costa del Pacífico, el altiplano andino y el bosque tropical, que se integraron a los recursos recolectados localmente dentro de los sistemas socioculturales establecidos al final del Pleistoceno. Estos resultados se interpretan como una expresión material de una red de múltiples escalas para la gestión de recursos y otros requisitos sociales e inmateriales, lo que en otras palabras, significaría que estos grupos sociales estaban conectados activamente con redes de interacción regionales (costa y tierras altas) y supra-regionales (transandinas) desde y hacia la PdT. Fil: Santoro, Calógero M.. Universidad de Tarapaca.; Chile Fil: Gayo, Eugenia M.. Centro de Ciencia del Clima y la Resiliencia; Chile. Universidad de Concepción; Chile Fil: Capriles Flores, Jose Mariano. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos Fil: Rivadeneira Valenzuela, Marcelo Michel. Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica. Centro de Investigación Regional. Centro de Estudios en Zonas Áridas; Chile. Universidad Católica del Norte; Chile. Universidad de La Serena; Chile Fil: Herrera, Katherine A.. Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre la Defense; Francia. Universidad de Tarapaca.; Chile Fil: Mandakovic, Valentina. No especifíca; Fil: Rallo, Mónica. No especifíca; Fil: Rech, Jason A.. University of Miami; Estados Unidos Fil: Cases, Bárbara. Universidad de Tarapaca.; Chile Fil: Briones, Luis. Museo Municipalidad de Pica; Chile Fil: Olguín, Laura. Universidad Católica del Norte, San Pedro de Atacama; Chile Fil: Valenzuela, Daniela. Universidad de Tarapaca.; Chile Fil: Borrero, Luis Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; Argentina Fil: Ugalde, Paula C.. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos. Universidad de Tarapaca.; Chile Fil: Rothhammer, Francisco. Universidad de Tarapaca.; Chile Fil: Latorre, Claudio. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad; Chile Fil: Szpak, Paul. Trent University; Canadá

The deep-time dynamics of coupled socio-ecological systems at different spatial scales is viewed as a key framework to understand trends and mechanisms that have led to the Anthropocene. By integrating archeological and paleoenvironmental records, we test the hypothesis that Chilean societies progressively escalated their capacity to shape national biophysical systems as socio-cultural complexity and pressures on natural resources increased over the last three millennia. We demonstrate that Pre-Columbian societies intentionally transformed Chile’s northern and central regions by continuously adjusting socio-cultural practices and/or incorporating technologies that guaranteed resource access and social wealth. The fact that past human activities led to cumulative impacts on diverse biophysical processes, not only contradicts the notion of pristine pre-Industrial Revolution landscapes, but suggests that the Anthropocene derives from long-term processes that have operated uninterruptedly since Pre-Columbian times. Moreover, our synthesis suggests that most of present-day symptoms that describe the Anthropocene are rooted in pre-Columbian processes that scaled up in intensity over the last 3000 years, accelerating after the Spanish colonization and, more intensely, in recent decades. The most striking trend is the observed coevolution between the intensity of metallurgy and heavy-metal anthropogenic emissions. This entails that the Anthropocene cannot be viewed as a universal imprint of human actions that has arisen as an exclusive consequence of modern industrial societies. In the Chilean case, this phenomenon is intrinsically tied to historically and geographically diverse configurations in society-environment feedback relationships. Taken collectively with other case studies, the patterns revealed here could contribute to the discussion about how the Anthropocene is defined globally, in terms of chronology, stratigraphic markers and attributes. Furthermore, this deep-time narrative can potentially become a science-based instrument to shape better-informed discourses about the socio-environmental history in Chile. More importantly, however, this research provides crucial “baselines” to delineate safe operating spaces for future socio-ecological systems.

The bountiful marine resources of the northern Chilean coast offset the extreme aridity of the Atacama Desert in pre-Columbian times, underwriting permanent human occupation, and providing the basis for a long tradition of marine subsistence. We analyzed fish otoliths (n = 549) recovered from the sites of Camarones Punta Norte (occupied ca. 7,000–5,000 years ago) and Caleta Vitor (occupied ca. 9,500–300 years ago) to investigate species distribution and changes over time. We also estimated the size of the fish based on relationships between otolith weight and fish total length (TL) obtained from modern samples of the predominant species, Sciaena deliciosa. The estimated size range of S. deliciosa from Caleta Vitor included fish that were significantly larger than those from Camarones Punta Norte, with the maximum TL (970 mm) almost double the modern maximum length documented. The fluctuating abundance of fish species and other marine taxa from Camarones Punta Norte indicates intense but sporadic u...

As with most living organisms, human populations respond to climatic, environmental, and population pressures by transforming their range and subsistence strategies over space and time. An understanding of human ecology can be gained when the archaeological record is placed within the context of dynamic landscape changes and alterations in natural resource availability. We reconstructed the landscape evolution of the Quebrada Mani fan complex, situated along the west-facing slope of the Central Andes in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, an area that contains an archaeological record that spans almost 13,000 years. Surficial geologic mapping and dating of three 2–12 km2 study sites, in conjunction with archaeological records and analysis of remotely sensed data for the ∼400 km2 fan complex, was conducted to reconstruct the landscape evolution and the way of life of Paleoindian (ca. 12.8–11.5 ka) and early/late Formative (ca 2.5 to 0.7 ka) social groups. Just prior to any known human occupation, a large pluvial event in the high Andes, regionally referred to as CAPE I, impacted the Quebrada Mani fan complex from ca.18–16.5 ka. During CAPE I, the Mani fan complex was dominated by perennial stream systems that deposited well-sorted conglomerates in the upper reaches of the fan (Unit T2) and perennial wetlands (Unit B1). This pluvial period was followed by the onset of an extreme drought sometime after 15 ka, but before 13 ka, when wetlands desiccated and the distal reaches of the fan deflated. Sand sheets and sand dunes were deposited across broad reaches of the landscape and Quebrada Mani incised 3–5 m into its floodplain. This drought had profound implications for the distribution of natural resources during the subsequent pluvial event (CAPE II) that ensued from ca. 12.5–9.5 ka. Incision along the upper reaches of the fan caused a more restricted floodplain and allowed the deposition of extensive wetlands along the more distal central reaches of the fan where groundwater emerged. Paleoindian residential open-air camps were placed in these areas. Wetlands were replaced by a tree-covered floodplain during the latter portion of this pluvial event (ca. 10.5–9 ka). We found no archaeological evidence for human occupations between ∼8–2.5 ka, suggesting a lack of natural resources and/or very low hunter-gatherer population densities. During this time, Quebrada Mani incised up to 8 m into the floodplain. Mudflow deposition – typical of the present-day fan complex – initiated around 2.5 ka, likely responding to an increase in precipitation. This triggered a re-population of the fan surface by Formative agricultural groups that irrigated and extensively farmed these floodplains. By the end of the Formative, these socio-cultural groups became increasingly vulnerable to climatic changes as cut-and-fill cycles in the drainage necessitated major infrastructure adjustments, until the technologies and social-cultural convention of the epoch could not cope with environmental change and investments were abandoned by ∼0.8 ka.

In this chapter, the authors argue that the rapid, extensive, and efficient expansion of the Inca into northern Chile was not the consequence of random decisions. On the contrary, the cases studies presented show strategic geopolitical decision-making aimed to reduce conflict for resources and land between local leaders and foreign polities. These indigenous leaders and foreign imperial representatives became active agents in the promotion and implementation of the state programs. The case studies explored comprise Zapahuira, Tarapacá Viejo, and Catarpe. By transforming the economic, political, and ideological systems, the authors also argue that the Inca integrated northern Chile into a broader socioeconomic network through the Capac Ñan.

Archaeological sites composed only of surficial lithics are widespread in arid environments. Numerical dating of such sites is challenging, however, and even establishing a relative chronology can be daunting. One potentially helpful method for assigning relative chronologies is to use lithic weathering, on the assumption that the most weathered artifacts are also the oldest. Yet, few studies have systematically assessed how local environmental processes affect weathering of surficial lithics. Using macroscopic analyses, we compared the weathering of surficial lithic assemblages from seven mid-to-late Holocene archaeological sites sampled from four different microenvironments in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Changes in polish, texture, shine, and color were used to establish significant differences in weathering between two kinds of locations: interfluves and canyon sites. Lithics from interfluve sites were moderately to highly weathered by wind and possessed a dark coating, whereas canyon lithics were mildly weathered despite greater exposure to moisture, often lacked indications of eolian abrasion, and lacked dark coatings. Our results show that lithic weathering can be used as a proxy for relative age, but only after considering local environmental factors. The power of such chronologies can be improved by combining archaeological, paleoenvironmental, geomorphological, and taphonomic data.

The abundance of the southern Pacific mollusk loco (Concholepas concholepas), among other conspicuous marine supplies, are often cited as critical resources behind the long-term cultural and demographic fluctuations of prehistoric hunter-gatherers at the coastal Atacama Desert. These societies inhabited one of the world’s most productive marine environments flanked by one the world’s driest deserts. Both of these environments have witnessed significant ecological variation since people first colonized them at the end of the Pleistocene (c. 13,000 cal yr BP). Here, we examine the relationship between the relative abundance of shellfish (a staple resource) along a 9,500-year sequence of archaeological shell midden accumulations at Caleta (a small inlet or cove) Vitor, with past demographic trends (established via summed probability distributions of radiocarbon ages) and technological innovations together with paleoceanographic data on past primary productivity. We find that shellfish extraction varied considerably from one cultural period to the next in terms of the number of species and their abundance, with diversity increasing during periods of regionally decreased productivity. Such shifts in consumption patterns are considered community based management decisions, and for the most part they were synchronous with large and unusual regional demographic fluctuations experienced by prehistoric coastal societies in northern Chile. When taken together with their technological innovations, our data illustrates how these human groups tailored their socio-cultural patterns to what were often abrupt and prolonged environmental changes throughout the Holocene.

International audience; Hunter-gatherers collected and used various woody species depending on the landscape, availability of plant communities, and sociocultural considerations. With extensive paleo-wetlands and groundwater-fed oases, the Atacama Desert was interspersed with riparian woodlands that provided vital resources (fuel, water, and game) at the end of the Pleistocene in areas such as the Pampa del Tamarugal (PdT) basin. We use anthracological analyses to determine the fuel management strategies of hunter-gatherer societies in this hyperarid environment and explore whether the “Principle of Least Effort” applies. First, we present the combustion qualities and characteristics of woody taxa from the Atacama and analyze possible exploitation strategies. Second, we use anthracological analyses from Quebrada Maní 12 (QM12), a late Pleistocene archaeological site (dated from 12,750 to 11,530 cal B.P.) located in the PdT basin, to show the prevalence of two woody species that were either freshly collected or gathered (very likely on purpose) from subfossil wood. Our results suggest that fuel selection strategies were based on prior knowledge of the qualities of these woody taxa and how they burned. Thus we conclude that fuel management was part of a number of social and economic decisions that allowed for effective colonization of this region. Furthermore, we stress the need for caution when using charcoal to exclusively date archaeological sites located in desert environments.

Aim In deserts, past climate change (and particularly past rainfall variability) plays a large role in explaining current plant species distributions. We ask which species were most and which were least affected by changes in rainfall during the late Quaternary in northernmost Chile. Location Quebrada La Higuera (QLH; 18° S), a shallow canyon that cuts east–west through the western Andean precordillera of northern Chile, connecting the Altiplano with the hyperarid Atacama Desert. Methods We collected and dated 22 rodent middens from elevations of 3100–3500 m in QLH. These were analysed for identifiable plant macrofossils and pollen. We also measured chinchilla rat (Abrocoma cinerea) faecal pellets in the youngest middens to explore how they relate to past ecological and climatic change. Results The three oldest middens dated to more than 37 ka (thousand calibrated 14C years), four middens dated to 14.4–11.6 ka, and fifteen middens spanned the last 650 years. During all the intervals examined, extralocal species (those found today at higher elevations and indicative of positive rainfall anomalies) were present at our midden sites. In the youngest interval, Parastrephia pollen (indicating increased rainfall) increased abruptly at ad 1760 and remained high until the mid-1800s. This increase was also seen in our faecal pellet record. Main conclusions Extralocal species were prevalent in late Pleistocene middens at lower elevations when the climate was wetter. When combined with other regional midden records, we postulate that many species found today in the Altiplano were displaced to lower elevations during the late Pleistocene. The recent large-scale mortality documented among arboreal cactus populations along the present upper margins of the Atacama suggests that these are relict populations that are likely to have flourished during a wetter period in the early 1800s.

Archaeological and palaeoecological studies throughout the Americas have documented widespread landscape and environmental transformation during the pre-Columbian era. The highly dynamic Formative (or Neolithic) period in northern Chile (ca. 3700-1550 yr BP) brought about the local establishment of agriculture, introduction of new crops (maize, quinoa, manioc, beans, etc.) along with a major population increase, new emergent villages and technological innovations. Even trees such as the Algarrobos (Prosopis section Algarobia) may have been part of this transformation. Here, we provide evidence that these species were not native to the Atacama Desert of Chile (18-27°S), appearing only in the late Holocene and most likely due to human actions. We assembled a database composed of 41 taxon specific AMS radiocarbon dates from archaeobotanical and palaeoecological records (rodent middens, leaf litter deposits), as well an extensive bibliographical review comprising archaeobotanical, paleoecological, phylogenetic and taxonomic data to evaluate the chronology of introduction and dispersal of these trees. Although Algarrobos could have appeared as early as 4200 yr BP in northernmost Chile, they only became common throughout the Atacama over a thousand years later, during and after the Formative period. Cultural and natural factors likely contributed to its spread and consolidation as a major silvicultural resource.

The European conquest of the New World produced major socio-environmental reorganization in the Americas, but for many specific regions and ecosystems, we still do not understand how these changes occurred within a broader temporal framework. In this paper, we reconstruct the long-term environmental and vegetation changes experienced by high-altitude wetlands of the southcentral Andes over the last two millennia. Pollen and charcoal analyses of a 5.5-m-long core recovered from the semi-arid puna of northern Chile indicate that while climatic drivers influenced vegetation turnaround, human land use and management strategies significantly affected long-term changes. Our results indicate that the puna vegetation mostly dominated by grasslands and some peatland taxa stabilized during the late Holocene, xerophytic shrubs expanded during extremely dry events, and peatland vegetation persisted in relation to landscape-scale management strategies by Andean pastoralist societies. Environmental changes produced during the post-conquest period included the introduction of exotic taxa, such as clovers, associated with the translocation of exotic herding animals (sheep, cattle, and donkeys) and a deterioration in the management of highland wetlands.

This paper presents the results of bulk chemical compositional analyses of ceramic pastes through Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), which is the most precise method available for this kind of research. The analyses were carried out on 94 fragments of pottery from several archaeological sites in northern Chile?s Atacama Desert (Fig 1, Table A.1). We aimed to examine the possible origins of pottery vessels distinguished by Inka and local styles within the process of the Inka State expansion into the territories south of Cusco, known as Collasuyu.On the basis of these analyses, we discuss the idea that the State introduced to the zone pottery with Inka iconographic styles from the Lake Titicaca region (more than 500 km away). But, more important, the State seems to have encouraged the replication of State pottery standards by local artisans, who consciously or unconsciously maintained certain traditional procedures. This means that skilled local artisans imitated Inka iconographic style but using paste of local origin. These results show the importance of archaeometric analysis of high-prestige fine Inka and local pottery as it sheds light on how the State managed their political strategies, their impact on the prehistoric polities of northern Chile (NCh). Fil: Williams, Veronica Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto de Las Culturas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Las Culturas; Argentina Fil: Santoro Vargas, Calogero Mauricio. Universidad de Tarapacá; Chile Fil: Speakman, Robert J.. University of Georgia; Estados Unidos Fil: Glascock, Michael. University of Missouri; Estados Unidos Fil: Romero Guevara, Álvaro Luis. Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales; Chile Fil: Valenzuela, Daniela. Universidad Alberto Hurtado; Chile Fil: Standen, Vivien G.. Universidad de Tarapacá; Chile Fil: D'Altroy, Terence N.. Columbia University; Estados Unidos

The emergence of complex cultural practices in simple hunter-gatherer groups poses interesting questions on what drives social complexity and what causes the emergence and disappearance of cultural innovations. Here we analyze the conditions that underlie the emergence of artificial mummification in the Chinchorro culture in the coastal Atacama Desert in northern Chile and southern Peru. We provide empirical and theoretical evidence that artificial mummification appeared during a period of increased coastal freshwater availability and marine productivity, which caused an increase in human population size and accelerated the emergence of cultural innovations, as predicted by recent models of cultural and technological evolution. Under a scenario of increasing population size and extreme aridity (with little or no decomposition of corpses) a simple demographic model shows that dead individuals may have become a significant part of the landscape, creating the conditions for the manipulation of the dead that led to the emergence of complex mortuary practices.

The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert possesses important reserves of “fossil” or ancient groundwater, yet the extent and timing of past hydrologic change during the late Quaternary is largely unknown. In situ and/or short-distance transported leaf-litter deposits abound along relict fluvial terraces inserted within four dry and unvegetated valleys that drain into the endorheic basin of Pampa del Tamarugal (PDT, 21°S, 900–1000 m), one of the largest and economically important aquifers in northern Chile. Our exceptional archive offers the opportunity to evaluate the response of low-elevation desert ecological and hydrological systems to late Quaternary climate variability. Three repeated expansions of riparian/wetland ecosystems, and perennial rivers occurred along the southernmost PDT basin between 17.6–14.2 ka, 12.1–11.4 ka and from 1.01–0.71 ka. Both early and late archaic archaeological artefact are present in clear association with our fossil riparian/wetland assemblages, which suggests that these palaeoenvironmental changes facilitated past human occupations in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert. Using modern analogues, we estimate that these ecological and hydrological changes were triggered by a threefold increase in rainfall along the headwaters of what are presently inactive canyons. Comparisons with other regional palaeoclimatic records from the central Andes indicate that these changes were synchronous with the widespread pluvial stages now termed the Central Andean Pluvial Event (CAPE— 17.5–14.2 ka and 13.8–9.7 ka). In addition, we summarize new evidence for perennial runoff, riparian ecosystems and a major human settlement during the latest Holocene. Our findings clearly show that local hydrological changes in the PDT were coupled with precipitation variability in the adjacent eastern highlands during the late Quaternary. The long-term dynamics of low-elevation desert ecological and hydrological systems are likely driven by changes in moisture sources, with one source tied to the Amazon region (N–NE mode) and the other to the Gran Chaco region (SE mode). We conclude by linking ENSO-like variability and moisture variations over the Gran Chaco to the three major regional-scale recharge events over the last 18 ka in the PDT basin. We conclude by asserting that an important portion of the groundwater resources in the PDT is indeed fossil, inherited from past pluvial events. We recommend that the relationship between ancient recharge, together with palaeoclimate records of past headwater rainfall fluctuations should be incorporated into future water-balance models and evaluation of groundwater potential in northern Chile.

The study of complex funerary ritual development among hunters and gatherers societies should take into account how people made up for the continuity of their social system without the support of centralized organizations. This research integrates cultural and natural factors to explore how the Chinchorro carried on with their way of life isolated at geographically restricted perennial river mouths with fresh water along the Atacama Desert in the Pacific coast of South America. Within these rather crowded settlings, they created and maintained a social system catalyzed by a complex funerary tradition, embodied by a unique funerary ideological discourse that resulted in the creation of a sacred landscape or "spiritscape". We argue that the extreme hyperaridity of the coastal Atacama Desert (21° - 17.30° S), and the extraordinary biomass production of the marine littoral constituted a fundamental milieu for the maintenance of their long-term social system. The Chinchorro belief system lasted for several millennia (8,000-4,000 BP), but new ways of life and burial practices followed major changes in the coastal ecosystem they relied on, which would have influenced how the "old tradition" was manifested over time. Conversely, we sustain that these natural "constraints" faced by the Chinchorro along the coast of the Atacama Desert, were influential, in the course of their history or the way they socially organized themselves.

Durante decadas los antropologos han discutido como y cuando America fue poblada. El punto de vista predominante al respecto plantea que los primeros paleoindios, poblacion amerindia ancestral, llego en una epoca pre-Clovis desde Asia y Beringia utilizando como ruta la costa pacifica del continente. En el presente trabajo se analizan mediante morfometria geometrica y tecnicas de ADNmt antiguo restos esqueletales de 9.000-4.000 anos a.p., excavados de sitios arqueologicos del Norte, Centro y Sur de Chile. Nuestros resultados muestran que el material craneano arcaico del suroeste de America exhibe un amplio rango de variacion de la forma de la boveda, la cual es independiente de la cronologia de los craneos. El analisis del ADNmt realizado en los mismos restos esqueletales revela la presencia solo de los cuatro haplogrupos fundadores (A, B, C y D) desde los 9.000 a.p. Los resultados obtenidos a partir de datos morfometricos y de mtDNA muestran que, considerando los rasgos analizados, las poblaciones humanas que habitaron America durante la epoca arcaica no constituyen dos grupos diferentes. Estos resultados son consistentes con los analisis de secuencias completas de DNA mitocondrial recientemente obtenidos.

Researchers in the High Andes in northern Chile report the study of a fine cave sequence, supported by 19 radiocarbon dates. The initial occupation atc. 11 500 cal BP represents the earliest human occupation known at this altitude. The toolkit suggests a hunting (logistical) camp used to take advantage of the animals gathering in the rich wetland of the neighbourhood.

This interdisciplinary study represents an approximation towards understanding how regional human cultural systems may have been affected by climate change in the northernmost Chilean Altiplano (>3600 m) over the last ca. 11 500 cal a BP. We compare the archaeological record from Hakenasa cave with the lake record from Lago Chungarasediment cores, located 50 km to the south. By integrating both of these archives in conjunction with regional palaeoclimate and archae- ological data, we provide new evidence for the role of changing environmental and climatic conditions in human settlement patterns. The first human occupation of the entire Altiplano occurs at Hakenasa and is dated to 9980 � 40 14 C a BP (11 265-11 619 cal. a BP), and took place under wetter regional climate conditions. An archaeologically sterile deposit occurs at Hakenasa between 7870 and 6890 cal. a BP. Constituted by sands and gravels, these sediments are interpreted as a flood event. This time period is synchronous with alternating short dry and wet events recorded in the Lake Chungara ´ sedimentary sequence. Human activity resumes and increases in importance at Hakenasa by ca. 6000 cal. a BP. This corresponds to wetter conditions indicated by the Chungararecord. Even though the lake record indicates intense volcanic activity over the last 6000 cal. a BP, this had little or no impact on the human population present at Hakenasa. This study shows that even in this extreme environment human settlement patterns do not always respond in a linear fashion to environmental change. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Archeological evidence suggests that the iconographic and technological developments that took place in the highlands around Lake Titicaca in the Central Andean region had an influence on the cultural elaborations of the human groups in the valleys and the Pacific coast of northern Chile. In a previous communication, we were able to show, by means of a distance analysis, that a craniofacial differentiation accompanied the process of cultural evolution in the valleys (Rothhammer and Santoro [2001] Lat. Am. Antiq. 12:59-66). Recently, numerous South Amerindian mtDNA studies were published, and more accurate molecular techniques to study ancient mtDNA are available. In view of these recent developments, we decided 1) to study chronological changes of ancient mtDNA haplogroup frequencies in the nearby Lluta, Azapa, and Camarones Valleys, 2) to identify microevolutionary forces responsible for such changes, and 3) to compare ancient mtDNA haplogroup frequencies with previous data in order to validate craniometrical results and to reconstruct the biological history of the prehistoric valley groups in the context of their interaction with culturally more developed highland populations. From a total of 97 samples from 83 individuals, 68 samples (61 individuals) yielded amplifications for the fragments that harbor classical mtDNA markers. The haplogroup distribution among the total sample was as follows: 26.2%, haplogroup A; 34.4%, haplogroup B; 14.8%, haplogroup C; 3.3%, haplogroup D; and 21.3%, other haplogroups. Haplogroup B tended to increase, and haplogroup A to decrease during a 3,900-year time interval. The sequence data are congruent with the haplogroup analysis. In fact, the sequencing of hypervariable region I of 30 prehistoric individuals revealed 43 polymorphic sites. Sequence alignment and subsequent phylogenetic tree construction showed two major clusters associated with the most common restriction haplogroups. Individuals belonging to haplogroups C and D tended to cluster together with nonclassical lineages.

Rademaker et al. (2014) present novel archaeological evidence for contending that, during the terminal Pleistocene (TP), humans were occupying the harsh highlands of southern Peru on a permanent basis. The evidence consists of 19 C dates between 11,400 and 12,400 cal before present (BP) associated with stone tools, features, burned plants, and artiodactyl faunal remains recovered from the Cuncaicha rock shelter (∼4,480 m above sea level) in the Pucuncho basin. Near the rock shelter, two open-air workshops evidence obsidian exploitation from the Alca source, previously identified at Quebrada Jaguay, a TP open-air site on the south coast of Peru (Sandweiss et al. 1998). This research is significant and thought provoking but, as discussed below, merits further contextual and theoretical consideration. Although a robust set of radiocarbon dates supports a TP human presence at Cuncaicha, we are concerned that only bone remains were assayed and that there is no adequate description of the taxa, elements, human modification, and taphonomic history of these remains. Was carnivore gnawing present on the bones? High-altitude rock shelters are preferential lairs for predators such as pumas and foxes, implying that not all bones necessarily represent a human presence and chronology. It is also unclear why carbonized plant materials reported from hearths were not directly dated. In our opinion, the few artifacts and informal features reported from Cuncaicha are insufficient to substantiate an intense or year-round occupation. A diverse and complete lithic reduction sequence comes from the surface of the workshops and not from the occupied rock shelter, where only a portion of the sequence traditionally associated with permanent subsistence and related activities is represented.

The results of an analysis of cranial measurements obtained from 223 skeletal samples, exhumed in 11 archaeological sites of Arica littoral and the Azapa valley, in extreme north Chile are presented. The object of this analysis is to reconstruct the biological history of the prehistoric inhabitants of the coast and the valley, in the context of their interaction with demographically and culturally more developed centers around Lake Titicaca. To this end, an osteological collection exhumed in that region is included in the analysis. The results reveal the microevolution of a coastal population with Andean roots that possibly arrived at the coast of Arica some 9,000 years ago, whose phenotypic features are recognizable until the time of contact with populations of the XVI century. This group gave origin to the inhabitants of the valleys, which during the Formative Period (3,500 B. P.) became farmers. The coastal groups maintained contact with certain groups from the valley (AZ-70). Nevertheless, the characteristic coastal features are accentuated starting from the Late Archaic Period (PLM-7 site), possibly due to genetic drift not compensated for by immigration. During the Formative Period, gene flow occurred from the highlands to the valleys, judging by a decrease in biological distance. This flow reached its maximum intensity in the Middle Horizon and the Late Intermediate Period (AZ-8). It is suggested that the migrations from the highland to the valleys are related to the disintegration of Tiwanaku.

Una secuencia cronologica, cultural y bioantropologica de cuerpos momificados y restos esqueletarios de los valles occidentales de Anca y del territorio circumpuneno de San Pedro de Atacama se presenta en terminos de comprender el proceso adaptativo e intracultural a nivel regional, y sus relaciones con los territorios fronterizos. En este contexto, la evidencia de Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type (HTLV-1) recurrente entre la poblacion japonesa actual y del area estudiada se ha evaluado a traves de los remanentes etnicos andinos. Ahora se presentan muestras obtenidas de cuerpos humanos prehispanicos, los cuales fueron analizados con aplicaciones multidisciplinarias con resultados positivos, confirmando la extension de un paleovirus extraamericano en el area centro sur andina. La identificacion de HTLV- 1 entre poblaciones prehispanicas se ha datado entre los 900 a los 1.200 anos d.C. al interior del radio de influencia del estado altiplanico Tiwanaku, a traves de poblaciones emplazadas en el suroeste del mundo andino. El analisis arqueologico permite interpretar estos datos en terminos de reactivar la cuestion de los origenes del poblamiento americano, enfatizando el rol de los componentes protoasiaticos, arribados por distintas vias hacia Sudamerica, con marcadores biologicos presentes en sociedades complejas del area centro sur andina.