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In Central Western Argentina (CWA), the incorporation of cultigens by hunter-gatherer populations has been much discussed. This paper explores the relationship between population dynamics, subsistence change, and burial patterns driven by the process of land use intensification and increasing reliance on maize. We hypothesize that territorial behavior emerged in the context of population growth and competition for resources with a high probability of failure, as expected in an arid environment. To evaluate this hypothesis, we explore four lines of inquiry in southern Mendoza (CWA): 1) the frequency of radiocarbon dates to estimate population dynamics; 2) the Juvenile Index as a fertility rate proxy; 3) the stable isotopes on human bone (δ 13C co , δ 15N, δ 13C ca) to reconstruct diet; and 4) burial patterns as an estimate of territorial control. Our results partially support our hypothesis: During an early stage, when maize started to appear in the diet, the population was increasing, and cemeteries emerged along with some signs of violence. The hypothesis is not supported in a second period, when maize consumption and population were highest, but large cemeteries disappeared. In light of this evidence, the effect of maize on human societies was not uniform and irrevocable, and the adoption of maize by human foragers contributed to a new and diverse set of human-environment relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the paleogeographic evolution of Viedma Lake (252 masl) sedimentary sequences with glaciolacustrine and lacustrine strata between 307 masl and 266 masl and bathymetric fluctuations between 27 ka. and 2.4 ka. were identified. The paleoenvironmental interpretation of the stratigraphic profiles was carried out based on the analysis of facies and their associations. The oldest age was recorded at 301 masl (27 ka) and the youngest corresponds to 266 masl (2.4 ka). The record of 27 ka was compared with another dated record of the Tar-San Martin Lakes basin showing that Viedma – Tar-San Martín Lakes were formed at similar ages. Taking into account that the deposits of Bahía Túnel are located at 266 masl and that the level of the lake would be above this height, it is proposed that this lake level would have restricted the movement of hunter-gatherer populations along the coast and to the west. From 2.4 ka on a new space started to be available for these populations broadening the wintering grounds (≤400 masl). The chronology of the archaeological record found in this new space fits the proposed paleogeographic evolution. This paper complements the research on the evolution of lacustrine systems in the Patagonian Mountain range and broadens the discussion of human mobility in the Viedma Lake basin during the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study of firewood use and management by human groups in the Ongamira valley, Córdoba, Argentina (dated between c. 5700-950 BP). In order to understand firewood gathering practices at different periods in the Late Holocene, samples from 63 combustion events recorded in 9 rockshelters were analysed. From the anthracological analysis (14,976 fragments) 19 woody taxa, and 4 botanically indeterminate taxa, were identified belonging to Chaco Serrano forest vegetation. The identification of abundant small flat fireplaces suggests short-lived activities repeated over time. A detailed analysis of the samples (types of fire pits, alterations during combustion and taphonomic processes) permits inferring firewood gathering in the local vegetation around the sites, as well as some taxa belonging to different environmental settings. Archaeological evidence indicates that groups were mobile, with the establishment of a network of places in the landscape where different activities were carried out (tool production, food consumption and pottery manufacture) with fire making as a central activity. People in the past constantly used different places in the valley, focusing many of their activities in rockshelters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]