Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Geoarchaeology and Dating Climatic Events in the Middle Rio Negro Valley, Argentina

Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Michael Waters, Ms. Heidi Luchsinger will conduct archaeological research to reconstruct climate and human behavior during the Younger Dryas period in Southern South America. Decades of archaeological research in South America reveal a complex record of human occupation spanning at least 12,000. In Argentina, although substantial work has been conducted throughout the Pampas and Patagonia, the boundary area (or ecotone) between these two regions has been neglected. Archaeologically, ecotones are quite important because they offer a wide variety of natural resources, making them attractive settlement locations for prehistoric populations. Ecotones are also particularly sensitive to climate change. The Rio Negro Valley, is an ecotone located between Patagonia and the Pampas. Recent archaeological research has been conducted in the middle valley, however, its landscape and climatic history is essentially unknown preventing a clear evaluation of the current archaeological record. For example, little is known about the type of environments that lured early settlers into this region or forced them to cope with conditions that created difficulty in procuring food, water, and sufficient shelter. This dissertation project will investigate a 75 km segment of the middle Rio Negro Valley in order to reconstruct these landscape and climatic histories. Results will lead to the potential detection of archaeological sites even earlier than previously discovered and global climate changes throughout human occupation. Unlike our modern world, the dynamics of landscape and climate in prehistory had a much greater impact on human populations signifying its importance for interpreting past human behavior. The broader impact of this dissertation project has several components. First, it joins graduate students and archaeologists from the U.S. and Argentina to pursue new theories on the peopling of the Americas. The research will be disseminated at national and international meetings, talks to local archaeology groups, and publication in both English and Spanish.