Peoplement and landscape intensity use at San Martín lacustrine basin (Patagonia Argentina): new data from the north margin

Abstract

The archaeological record of the hunter-gatherer populations that inhabited the Tar and San Martin lacustrine basins during the Holocene indicates differences in both the mode and the intensity in which these two spaces were used. In this paper we contribute with new data about spatial artifact distribution, lithic technology and the occupation chronology of the northern margin of the San Martin lake that were obtained in transect surveys and excavations carried out in rockshelters situated in steppe and steppe-wood ecotonal environments. The obtained results allow both the construction of a model about the circum-lake archaeological landscape and the incorporation of this space into the regional archaeological discussion, further supporting previous observations about the low intensity of the human use of this space and the logistic utilization of the western sectors of the basin, near the current edge of the forest, from occupation centers situated eastward.