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Copyright of Arqueología Iberoamericana is the property of Arqueologia Iberoamericana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this paper is to study the use of ceramics of small-scale societies during the late Holocene in northern Patagonia. The technological investment model predicts that use-time and utility will determine the investment spent in ceramics. We explore how ceramics were used in short-term camps and aggregation sites during summer at high elevations, and residential camps during winter at lower elevations. To test the investment in ceramics we use four technological variables: temper size, average thickness, surface treatment and firing. Our results indicate that hunter-gatherers expected a short-term use in summer locations and therefore made a low investment in ceramics.

In this paper we discuss the use of mineral pigments recovered in stratigraphic position from three excavated archaeological sites (Traful Lake area, Argentina) with the aim of providing information on selection and frequency of use of these raw materials. In this region, human occupation has been recorded since 4000 BP. In order to identify the chromophoric minerals, we applied wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques. Green, red, yellow ochre, and white pigments dated between 3490 and 590 BP were analyzed. The results show that different analytical techniques provide complementary information in order to identify the pigments. Green, red, and yellow samples are related to iron-based compounds. The green pigments can be associated with celadonite and the others with hematite. White samples revealed the presence of hydroxyapatite. Black dots, identified as carbon, were observed in several samples. Red pigments are always predominant, and their relative abundance increases in recent strata. Results are discussed in light of the context and previous reports of chroniclers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Atacameños is the property of Estudios Atacamenos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Archaeological radiocarbon databases are being increasingly used as a proxy of past demographic trends. In this paper we compile and analyze an extensive database of paleoecological information and 14 C dates from archaeological sites in northwestern Patagonia (Argentina, South America). On this basis, we assess the regional distribution of human populations since the late Pleistocene, and their relation with the evolution of Patagonian climate and landscapes. We explore the spatial and temporal distribution of evidence and discuss sampling biases affecting the record in different ecological contexts. The analysis is set in the frame of three main ecological regions that have implications for human subsistence: Andean forest, grass steppe, and shrub steppe. The intensity of the archaeological signal differs among these regions through time, being stronger and more homogeneous in the grass steppe. In the Andean forest and the shrub steppe the signal is weaker and even absent during short periods of the middle Holocene. We suggest likely sampling biases contributing to these tendencies, since these three regions present variable research cover and intensity. On the other hand, we also suggest that these differences may reflect variations in the intensity of human occupation, in favor of more attractive environments for hunting (i.e., areas where guanaco are generally more abundant). This macro-regional synthesis of the paleoecology and archaeology of northwestern Patagonia provides a platform for developing future oriented research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cranial and postcranial remains of a juvenile specimen from the lower section of the Vaca Muerta Formation (Lower Tithonian) recovered at Cerro Lotena (Neuquén Province, Argentina) are identified as Neusticemys neuquina. We contextualised this juvenile specimen inside the taxonomic and phylogenetic background of N. neuquina. The new information provided by the juvenile specimen indicates that relevant key features such as: a strong constriction of the horizontal pterygoid plate at the level of the basis of the quadrate process of the pterygoid, a round depression basisphenoidal, a well-developed parasagittal crest developed on the dorsal surface of the squamosal, a medial keel on the posterior part of the carapace, hyo and hypoplastra contacting each other by a tight suture, do not change along ontogeny and as so they are reliable characters for taxonomy and phylogenetic analysis. We also comment on some ontogenetic changes between juvenile and adult specimens (e.g., increase of fossa infratemporalis and parietal horizontal plate in the skull, reduction in the height at the surangular region in the lower jaw, and the reduction of costo-peripheral fenestrae on the carapace) of N. neuquina. In addition, we compare this species with other early stage juvenile eurysternids from the European Upper Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Six obsidian sources increased their use in the Late Holocene in north Patagonia. • The closer source to Diamante Valley, is the least used. • The best quality source, Las Cargas, was the most used across the Late Holocene. • Obsidian helped to minimize risk in the occupation of high elevation locations. • Obsidian exchange routes may find a pattern in least cost path analysis results. • Exchange of obsidian followed routes through High elevations villages to sources. In this paper we explore obsidian conveyance in the Diamante Valley, in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Obsidian is the third most-common toolstone used in the Diamante Valley after basalts and local cryptocrystallines. Obsidian artifacts are predominantly projectile points and bifaces, with few cores and early-stage reduction debris. To explain these patterns, we conducted XRF sourcing and technological analysis of 177 obsidian artifacts collected there. We also conducted a GIS-based least cost path analysis to assess the costs of conveying obsidian from sources to sites in the Diamante watershed. We found that hunter-gatherers used Las Cargas as the principal obsidian source, followed by Maule 1 and 2, El Peceño, and Coche Quemado. The nearest source, Laguna del Diamante, was the least used. These data, combined with an analysis of the ways cores, formed tools, and debitage types were conveyed and ultimately deposited at sites in the Diamante watershed, suggest a late Holocene pattern of highland-oriented indirect access, implying highland village sites likely served as nodes in a regional and extraregional exchange network focused not only on obsidian but also on other goods, information, and social obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El sitio Los Radales 1 representa el primer estudio sistemático del recientemente caracterizado «sector oriental cordillerano del área arqueológica de la cuenca del río Valdivia». Se trata de un evento único de ocupación datado en 480 ± 60 años AP (madera, LP 3035) en pleno contexto del Periodo Alfarero Tardío, con cerámica de la tradición bícroma rojo sobre blanco e incluyendo el primer registro oriental cordillerano de alfarería tricolor. Se presenta la caracterización de los conjuntos líticos y cerámicos del sitio, su cronología y se describen las principales características compartidas con otros conjuntos conocidos para las regiones de Panguipulli y Villarrica, en el área centro-sur de Chile. ENGLISH: The site Los Radales 1 represents the first systematic study of the recently characterized “eastern cordilleran sector of the archaeological area of the Valdivian River Basin”. It is a unique occupation event, dating from 480 ± 60 years BP (wood, LP 3035), in the context of the Late Pottery Period; with ceramics from the red on white bichrome tradition, and including the first eastern cordilleran record of tricolor pottery. This paper presents the characterization of the lithic and ceramic assemblages of this site, its chronology and the main features shared with other known assemblages from the regions of Panguipulli and Villarrica, in the central-southern area of Chile.

Scavenger birds can feed on large- to small-sized vertebrates and may contribute in the formation of archaeological sites. To evaluate the modifications and dispersal patterns of bones produced by New World vulture and caracara from Northwestern Patagonia, samples of adult sheep, young sheep, and hare carcasses were offered and subsequently analyzed. New World vultures and caracaras quickly fed on the samples. Taphonomic and bone dispersal patterns suggest two types of accumulations: (1) open-air sites with large and medium-sized vertebrates represented by complete, fractured, scratched, notched, and punctured elements and (2) rock shelter or cave sites dominated by small vertebrates represented by broken, corroded, fractured, and digested elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a detailed phylogeographical analysis of one of the most conspicuous groups of lizards in northwestern Patagonia, the Liolaemus kriegi complex. This region is geographically very complex as a result of Andean orogeny and subsequent volcanism coupled with a long history of glaciations and climatic changes. For 247 individuals we sequenced one mitochondrial gene (cytochrome b) and for a subset we sequenced another mitochondrial gene [12 S ribosomal RNA (12 S)] and two nuclear fragments [kinesin family member 24 ( KIF24) and BA3 ribosomal RNA ( BA3)]. We obtained gene trees and mitochondrial and nuclear haploytpe networks, and estimated genetic distances between the main lineages and basic molecular diversity indices. We also performed spatial analysis of molecular variance ( SAMOVA) and Bayesian Skyline Plot ( BSP) analyses, and concordant patterns from different lines of evidence permitted delimitation of seven lineages: two described species, Liolaemus buergeri and Liolaemus tregenzai; four candidate species, Liolaemus sp. A, Liolaemus sp. B, Liolaemus sp. C, and Liolaemus sp. D; and one lineage that includes all individuals from the geographical range of Liolaemus ceii and L. kriegi, referred to as L. kriegi + L. ceii. We discuss the evolutionary processes that may contribute to the origin of these lineages and their taxonomic and conservation implications. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113, 256-269. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]