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Before Farming 2008/3 article 1 1

Household and sacred landscapes among Holocene hunter-

gatherers of Patagonias Central Plateau, Argentina

Laura Miotti

Divisin Arqueologa, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET(Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientficas y Tecnolgicas), Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Buenos

Aires, Argentina

[email protected]

Keywords

Landscape archaeology, Patagonia, middle Holocene, hunter-gatherers, space use

Abstract

The construction of social landscapes by middle Holocene hunter-gatherers in Patagonia is inferred from the

integration of spatial patterning in the selection and circulation of rocks/minerals, the distribution of rock art, camp

sites and the relationship between landforms and archaeological sites. These observations allow us to suggest

that environmental factors were not the only reason for behavioural changes taking place among southern

Patagonian hunter-gatherers at this time. Several changes in the spatial patterning of settlements and resource

use were recorded in the Central Plateau by our team, and by colleagues in other adjacent regions, that cannot be

attributed wholly to climate change. Archaeological signals of changing human settlement patterns strengthen by

the end of the middle Holocene and the beginning of the late Holocene. The central idea presented is that

domestic and sacred spaces were not exclusive because minerals, rocks, fresh water sources, landforms,

plants, animals, and landscapes meant more than simple utilitarian items or features in this landscape. This

article presents evidence to support the argument that decision-making about mobility, use of space and re-

sources, as well communicating with the other communities was influenced by considerations of the symbolic

realm as well as pressures resulting from climate change.

1 Introduction

A few years ago a volume about middle Holocene

human occupation pointed out that increases of tem-

peratures and droughts were the main causes of

depopulation in several regions of the Southern Cone

(Zrate et al 2005). However, some of those papers

give us a different perspective about the human use

of space. For example, Rodrguez states that there

are strong correlations between climatic, environmen-tal fluctuations, and cultural development in the La

Plata and Uruguay basin areas. Cultural changes and

discontinuities related to such natural changes in-

clude the appearance of new ethnic groups, replace-

ment of pre-existing populations and cultures,

changes in subsistence and settlement systems. In

short, demographic growth and the adaptive strate-

gies towards expansion into diversified environments

indicated an increase of complexity in those socie-

ties (Rodrguez, JA 2005:3334). Depopulation of this

area was not considered by the author. In the same

volume, Bracco and associates formulate different

hypotheses for the adjacent area of Uruguay. These

authors consider that dramatic droughts during the

middle Holocene were the main cause of people con-

centrating in certain locales in selected areas. The

fission and dispersal of bands may have been con-

sequence of higher levels of humidity in the region

(Bracco et al 2005).

In the central-south Andes (Aldenderfer 1988;Nez et al 2002; 2005) and in the north-western Ar-

gentinian Puna where an aridity increase and per-

haps higher temperatures promoted people to change

mobility patterns and social strategies (Yacobaccio

& Morales 2005:12), in other sectors of the Andean

Range (3234 S) an increase in human occupation

has been recorded for the same period (Garca 2005).

However, recent research reveals that places like

Quebrada de Puripica in the Atacama Desert, with

better moister conditions and concentrated re-

sources, were used by hunter-gatherers as

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2 Before Farming 2008/3 article 1

Household and sacred landscapes among Holocene hunter-gatherers of Patagonias Central Plateau: Miotti

ecorefuges (sensu Nez et al 2005:249). These

special places attracted human settlement and pro-

vide high resolution archaeological and

palaeoenvironmental records. Outside these refuges,

the sparse archaeological record indicates rare hu-

man use of these landscapes.

Barrientos & Prez consider the heterogeneousspatial evidence of human settlement as indicating

that ...from a global perspective, it can be said that

data from several sources suggest an increased

regionalization of climate from the early to the late

Holocene (2005:96). In short, the impact of middle

Holocene climate change varied according to region

and micro-region analysed. In terms of regional

peopling, many examples from southern South

America illustrate a complex picture archaeological

silence or occupational gaps (table 1 and figures

1, 2, and 3). From an archaeological viewpoint, the

analyses of proxy data used to reconstruct the

paleoenvironment correlate closely with variable

records of settlement seen in Pampean and

Patagonian sites (see Barrientos & Prez 2005: fig 2;

Gutirrez & Martnez 2007; Miotti 2001, 2006a; Miotti &

Salemme 2004; Politis & Madrid 2001; Salemme &

Miotti 2008). Table 1 shows some disparity regarding

proxy information, but in all cases the

palaeoenvironmental conditions during the middle

Holocene could be interpreted as the consequenceof events indicating regional asynchrony. On balance,

most authors accept that the middle Holocene was a

warmer period with fluctuations in effective humidity

depending on the area considered (Carlini & Tonni

2000; Tonni & Cione 1999; Tonni et al 1999), but there

are disagreements about the social interpretations

of responses to environmental change. In Patagonia,

only a few holistic studies have examined closely the

impact of environmental change on hunter-gatherer

societies and the archaeological signals of associ-

ated social changes (Borrero 2001 a, b; 2004; Miotti

2001, 2006a; Miotti & Salemme 2004; Orquera 2005;Salemme & Miotti 2008; and table 2).

This paper reviews the archaeological and

paleoenvironmetal evidence found from middle Holocene

times in Patagonia and suggests continuities and

discontinuities of human occupation based on 14C pat-

terns and archaeological contexts from different regions

of Patagonia (figures 1a, 1b). Also discussed are changes

in the appropriation of resources by hunter-gatherers dur-

ing the middle Holocene in the Deseado Massif based on

archaeological data, in particular the selection and trans-

port of marine and cordilleran items. The results contrib-

ute to current discussions of the climatic, environmental,

and cultural factors changing the use of space in different

parts of Patagonia. Environmental proxies (table 1) and

radiocarbon dates (table 2 and figures 2 and 3), are inte-

grated with archaeological evidence mainly obtained from

our research at Deseado Massif (tables 2, 3, and 4 and

figures 1a, 1b), and etnohistorical/ethnographic and

ethnoarchaeo-logical information, which was used as

actualistic parameters.

The following discussion attempts to demonstrate that

during the middle Holocene not only did the population of

Patagonia grow and structure the use of space hierarchi-

cally in relation to the availability of resources, but also

there were ideological reasons for cultural changes, in-

cluding patterns of mobility.

Table 1 Environmental conditions since late Pleistocene, based on pollen analysis, faunal presence/absence, glacial and volcanic evidence.

Taken and translated by Miotti 2006

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Figure 1b Deseado Massif, fluvial and lagoon basins, volcanoes,

lavic plateaus, hills, and archaeological sites quoted in the textFigure 1a Patagonia Map showing Los Andes Cordillera, main

Atlantic rivers and sites considered in the paper

Figure 2a Chronological and regional 14C tendencies in Patagonia

2 Theoretical and methodological background

A landscape is experienced not only as a physical and

ecological space, but also as a thought space in both

social and symbolic realms (Criado Boado 1991; Ingold

1986, 1993; Boivin 2004 among others).

Ethnoarchaeological hunter-gatherer studies allow us to

reinforce the idea that these societies are organised

around some cosmological elements. This holistic

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Figure 3 Chronological Occupations Tendencies in sub-regions of

Patagonia during Mid-Holocene: a) Northern; b) Central; c) Central

Plateau of Santa Cruz; d) Atlantic coast of Central Plateau ; e)

Foothill and Andean Basins; f) Magellan basin; g)Tierra del FuegoArchipelago

Figure 2b Chronological and regional 14C tendencies in Patagonia

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Table 2 Radiocarbon dates from Patagonia during mid-Holocene

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Table 2 (continued) Radiocarbon dates from Patagonia during mid-Holocene

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worldview is called ecosophyby Arhem (1990) and was

considered by Politis in his Nukak studies (2007). In this

sense, animals, plants, mineral and rock outcrops, moun-

tains, volcanoes, caves, springs, rivers, etc are endowed

with a range of humanlike attitudes. In other words, ani-

mated and unanimated objects and landscape itself are

charged with hierarchical power whose symbolism is

marked by signals such as exotic raw materials and arte-

facts, rock art, burials and differential use of landforms

(caves, rock-shelters, cliffs, lagoons, wetlands, peaks).

Caves, rockshelter and ledges are interpreted as

nodes of a territorial web that is linked through burials,

rock art, tracks, outcrops, and mountains. In this way they

are interpreted as metaphors of beings that link super-

natural and cultural realms (Boivin 2004; Gosden &

Marshall 1999; Saunders 2004). The spatial analysis (in-tra- and inter-site) developed at the Deseado Massif is

connected to ethnoarchaeological, taphonomic, and ex-

perimental studies involved in interdisciplinary approach

including pollen, geology, geomorphology, and palaeon-

tology. All these perspectives were taken into account in

order to interpret environmental evolution. GIS and non

invasive methods (GPR, GEM) were used in this research.

A meso-scale domain as used in landscape ecology

(Delcourt & Delcourt 1988) was selected as the spatial

unit of analysis.

3 Deseado Massif as meso-scale study

The Deseado Massif is a geological block modelled

by volcanic and aeolian processes. Basins, ridges

and high field plateaux indicate a great complexity of

natural processes. The region was not occupied by

ice of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but was a

periglacial zone where the fluctuations of Andean

watersheds affected fluvial regimes and climate. Sev-

eral canyons, dells, creeks, and bajos are cutting the

plateaux and as a consequence the Quaternary land-scape is more similar to mountain and volcanic ar-

eas than the remainder of the extra-Andean plateaux.

Rock shelters, springs and wetlands are frequent,

and for these reasons act as attractors of faunal re-

sources. Also abundant are inorganic resources, no-

tably jasper, flint, ochre and other bright minerals.

These geomorphic and ecological features might

have attracted human occupation since the Late

Pleistocene and these areas are considered here as

ecorefuges (figure 1b). This figure summarises the

main evidence found in the Central Plateau which

forms the basis of the inference that social networks

existed among hunter-gatherers at regional and ex-

tra-regional scales. The markers considered as im-

portant items of ecological, social and symbolic infor-

mation were marine shells and snails, and cordilleran

raw materials (Hermo 2008). Rock art appears as a

possible marker of social communication among dif-

ferent groups (Carden 2004, 2007). Burials from lat-

est the middle Holocene, like the rock art, appear well

represented and constitute another significant indi-

cator of human regional mobility and territoriality (more

regional details are in Carden 2007; Goi &

Barrientos 2000, 2004; Miotti et al 2002; Re & Aragone

2007; Rindel et al 2007). All sites were geo-referenced

and analysed with GIS techniques to study their spa-

tial relationships.

3.1. Marine and cordillera items in the Central

Plateau

The Middle Holocene occupation (sensu Cardich et

al 1973) at Los Toldos caves and the upper compo-

nent of AEP-1 at Piedra Museo (tables 2, 3, and figure

4f) contained beads of Fissurella sp (marine shell).

The latter rock shelter also contained marine bivalve

fragments Mytilus sp (figure 4f) were recorded. Mus-

sel fragments occurred in levels dated ca 8 ka and

3.5 ka in caves 3 and 2 at Los Toldos (Miotti 1998 andfigure 4f).

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Table 3 Spatial distribution and relationships between burials and campsites at northern Deseado Basin during middle Holocene and the

beginnings of late Holocene. Archaeological evidence corresponds to sacred and household places

Fragments of the large marine snail(Adelomelon

sp) and mussels (Mytilus sp) were recorded at La

Martita in Holocene contexts (tables 2 and 3). The

snail was used as a container for powdered red ochre

(Aguerre 1987). In sites on the Laguna Grande shore

line (MNBP1) were found marine snails and barna-

cles associated with tools that should be assigned to

middle Holocene and late Holocene occupations (fig-

ure 4 ae). At both localities, the marine fauna show

cut marks and fractures which indicate artefacts in

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different stages of production as tools and ornaments.

Despite the rarity of marine objects in sites of the

Central Plateau, their distribution allows us to infer

the mobility of family groups (bands) or small groups

of individuals (logistical crews) moving between in-land and coastal areas during the middle Holocene

(table 4). However, exchange or trade may also have

been taking place between coastal and interior based

societies.

The hypothesis of social networks existing be-

tween the Cordillera and the Central Plateau is based

on the presence of obsidian, a black and brilliant rock,

found in sites of the central plateau (figure 5 and table

4). The sources of obsidian lie in the Pampa del

Asador, Cerro Bayo (Espinosa & Goi 1999; Belardi

et al 2004), and in the Andes about 180 km west-

wards of the La Primavera locality and ca 300 km

from Piedra Museo (table 4 and figure 1b). In other

sites studied in the same region with middle Holocene

occupation of caves and open sites, obsidian was

curated, as seen in the technological evidence at

Maripe cave (figure 5) and AEP-1 rockshelter, at La

Primavera and Piedra Museo localities respectively.

In all cases, this allocthonous rock seems to have

entered the plateau as little nodules, preforms, or tools

(figure 5). The cores of obsidian found in the regionare small-sized and, in several cases, exhausted

(Hermo 2004, 2008). The natural and worked forms

of this raw material provide a clue then to past mobil-

ity or exchange strategies. Unworked obsidian cob-

bles or nodules found away from a source tend to

support the model of group mobility, whereas sites

with only finished tools or artefacts with high design

degree suggest trade through intermediaries. Simi-

larly, bead manufacturing away from the coast tends

Figure 4 Photographs of snails and shells of archaeologicalcontexts of Laguna Grande (a-e) and Los Toldos (f)

a

b

c

d

e

f

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to indicate mobility, while the presence of only fin-

ished ornaments are more easily explained as trade

goods.

3.2 Burials

Some aspects of social complexity and sacredness

of certain places could be reflected in the record of

burials arranged in special landforms, or by special

Figure 5 Photograph of La Primavera locality [above] and of

obsidian tools from Maripe cave [left]

mortuary practices. In extra-Andean Patagonia buri-

als tend to be concentrated in major complexes, not

only in the treatment of bodies, but also in spatial

distribution of graves at micro and meso regional

scales. The selection of different places to build monu-

ments, to save the dead and to settle these tombs or

rocky mounds on top of positive geological features

marks the symbolic realm of landscape use.

These burial landmarks appear in the latePleistocene and early Holocene in the Magallanes

and Aisn regions (Borrero 2001a; Borrero 2004;

Mena et al 2003). During the middle Holocene they

appear along the Pinturas river (Gradn & Aguerre

1994), and repeatedly from the end of the middle

Holocene until post European times (Goi &

Barrientos 2000, 2004; Miotti et al 2002; Miotti 2006a

and tables 3 and 4). The segregation between those

Table 4 Spatial distribution of cordillera and marine items in campsites Northern basins of Deseado Plateau

during Middle Holocene and the beginnings of Late Holocene

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holy or sacred places and domestic or household

places is a clear sign of differential use of landscape

performed by hunter-gatherer groups during the mid-

dle to late Holocene in continental Patagonia. How-

ever, two modalities of burial practices in the Central

Plateau, which were diachronic ritual practices, were

observed ca 5 ka and after 3 ka. On the DeseadoPlateau the majority of burials have been looted in the

recent past, stimulated by the myth that they contained

ornaments and goods in gold and silver. At present,

only one radiocarbon date is available of 727 48 BP

(AA6518) for a skeleton from El Sargento, near Pie-

dra Museo (table 3 and figure 6a,b,e). Features of the

spatial location of this burial are shared with intact

burials recorded on the Patagonian Plateau, which

have similar hilltop settings with far ranging views.

From this one burial, an observer can see the Madre

e Hija volcano northwards, westwards the rock-shel-

ters of Piedra Museo, southwards the 17 de Enero

quarry of red flint and the campsites in sandy and

bushy zones. The second characteristic that may in-

dicate a sacred or holy place is the outcrop of red

ochre 5 metres from the burial, which appears with

some reddish bones, probably dyed with the nearby

ochre. The third signal is the brilliant green flint that

covered the body. These were carried from distances

further than 500 metres. This rock furniture is remark-

able because there are other siliceous rocks avail-

able in the hill which may have been useful to cover

the burial, yet this green material was preferentially

selected for building tombs suggesting human mak-

ing decision in relation to social and symbolic use of

lithic raw materials.

The mortuary feature on Cerro Madre e Hija is a

secondary burial (figure 6c). The dead body was

skinned, disarticulated and the bones cleaned of

flesh, then the bones were wrapped and put into a

little grave excavated at the top of a basaltic chimney

of an extinct volcano. Unfortunately, this grave was

looted and the bones have been badly preserved. As

was the case at El Sargento, a great outcrop of yellow

ochre appeared near this burial, in the Cerro slope.

As mentioned, this Cerro can be seen from 60 km

away (figure 6d).

In recent years, we have geo-referenced several

burials or chenques2 on the Deseado Massif, such

Figure 6 Landscapes with chenques(burial monuments) at Piedra

Museo, El Sargento and Madre e Hija Cerro (volcano top).Intervisibililty of these archaeological locality through positive

landforms

a

b

c

d

e

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as the clusters of Moyano, Aguada del Cuero, La

Primavera, La Dorita, Cerro Botelln, MNBP, Madre e

Hija volcano, El Cuadro plateau, and Piedra Museo,

and so forth (figure 6 and Miotti et al 2002; Hermo &

Vzquez 1999). Most were disturbed by looters in the

20th century, but a few have survived intact.

Additional evidence for special treatment of thedead occurs in neighbouring regions such as the cre-

mation in Lago Sofa 1 by 3950 60 BP (table 2) and

in Cerro Sota by 3380 70 BP (table 2). Evidence of

special treatment of bodies is absent in northern ter-

ritories of Tierra del Fuego. The dead were buried

around the Laguna La Arcillosa 2 and 3 shoreline in

open-air shell middens dated around 5000 BP (table

2). Only in one of them is a skeleton treated with ochre

powder, and in this case a female had red ochre in

the pelvis area and adjacent sediments were stained

red (Salemme et al 2007a,b).

This process of segregation between spaces

dedicated to the dead and to other daily or domes-

tic life activities increased towards the end of the

middle Holocene and the beginning of the late

Holocene, perhaps related to increased drought.

In this ecological context, the moister basins as

refuges could have held concentrated populations

(Nez et al 2005; Belardi & Goi 2002; Rindel et

al 2007). A similar process of concentration oc-

curs with the distribution of rock art, which appears

in distinct locations on the Central Plateau in as-

sociation with a suite of landscape features in-

cluding caves, rock shelters, basaltic crowns, and

cliffs which are also associated with sources of

abundant fresh water and basic faunal resources.

In several of these localities, the daily activities

associated with campsites are absent. The rock

art appears as a kind of supra valuation of the land-

scape, and close to burial and hunting places

(Carden 2004, 2007; Miotti et al 1999a,b, Miotti etal 2002, 2007a; Miotti & Carden 2007; Miotti 2001,

2006 a,b,c, 2007).

This information allows us to suggest the occur-

rence of certain mobility and territoriality patterns that,

together with the presence of extra-regional objects,

may be indicative of an increase of social communi-

cation, which could denote a growth of economic and

social networks and social processes of fission and

fusion of bands for certain ceremonies, rituals, for-

ager/collector tasks (residential and logistic), and

trade activities. However, the profound environmental

changes of the middle Holocene (eg, eruptions, hu-

midity and temperature fluctuations, tectonic activity,

etc, see table 1) affected human decision making

beyond basic ecological and economic concerns, trig-

gering ideological changes of which one conse-

quence was the development of new patterns in the

use of space. The hierarchical and differential use of

landscapes with places kept for ritual or sacred ac-

tivities and others planned to develop domestic tasks

increased in certain landforms. The landscape itself

could have been imbued with spiritual beings in the

cosmo-vision of the hunter-gatherers (ecosophy,

sensu Arhem 1990). Volcanoes, hills, springs or spe-

cial minerals outcrops were good candidates as sa-

cred places (Saunders 2004).

Similar changes in landscape use occurred in

neighbouring areas (for example: Pueyrredn, Tar,

Cardiel and Salitroso lakes) in reference to burials,

rock art and campsite distributions (see Goi &

Barrientos 2000, 2004; Belardi & Goi 2002; Re &

Aragone 2007; Rindel et al 2007, among others) .

3.3. Radiocarbon dates

The final independent line of evidence used to infer

changes in human mobility is the record of regional

radiocarbon dates that show continuities and occu-

pational gaps. The Deseado Massif remained de-

populated between 6.5 5.5 ka (table 2 and refer-ences quoted there, and figure 3c), but the Atlantic

coast (figure 3d), the foothills of the Andes cordillera

(figure 3e), and the Magellan basin (figure 3f) were

occupied during this same interval (table 2 and figure

3d). The occupational gaps in these neighbouring

regions appeared later, when the Deseado Massif

was re-populated again.

Radiocarbon dates in several regions of Patagonia

could be indicating micro-regional continuities and

discontinuities, but temporal disconnections between

them do not just indicate worsening environmental

conditions. The changing social web of interaction

among hunter-gatherers could have altered human

movements from the Central Plateau to the cordillera

and marine coast in different directions.

4 Final remarks

4.1 Subsistence and marine items

On the Central Plateau the generalist subsistence

strategy changed during the middle Holocene and

focused on the hunting of guanacos. On marine

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coasts, subsistence centred on hunting sea mam-

mals and gathering of molluscs. However, the hunt-

ing of terrestrial animals, such as guanacos, was a

very important subsistence activity also on the Atlantic

Patagonian shore (Borrero 1996; Miotti 1998; Miotti &

Salemme 1999). Isotopic analyses indicate that some

individuals consumed maritime resources in highproportions (see Barberena 2002, 2008 and refer-

ences within), but these cases are rare and they do

not exclude the consumption of significant quantities

of terrestrial foods; moreover, the great majority of

these analyses have shown that terrestrial resources

were the dominant food source (Barberena 2008).

The low presence of shells and snails as tools

and ornaments in the sites of the Central Plateau

(over 80 km from coast) indicates that these were

transported inland not as food, but as symbolic items

of social communication. This hypothesis does not

exclude the possibility that shells may have reached

the Central Plateau through inter-group exchange,

and both options have been discussed previously

(Miotti 2001; 2006a; Miotti & Salemme 2004). Table 4

shows the distribution and low frequencies of these

marine items (artefacts and tools) across several

sites on the Central Plateau. It clearly is possible to

accept the existence of supraregional mobility pat-

terns based on the combined presence of exotic

shells or minerals.

On the other hand, it is worth noting the remark-

able discovery in the middle Holocene occupation of

Maripe cave of a complete bead made of a bird dia-

physis produced using the same technology and simi-

lar decorative engraved designs used to make beads

found in shell-middens from the Beagle Channel at

the same time period. Moreover, two fragments of

similar engraved beads were found in the archaeo-

logical context of Maripe cave (Miotti et al 2004, 2007

b, 2008; Miotti & Marchionni 2007). These ornaments

are interpreted as evidence of trade in finished ob-

jects through long distance exchange networks (ie,

Whitley 1998)

4.2. Obsidian Circulation

The use of obsidian on the Central Plateau was more

frequent during the middle Holocene (before 3.5 ka

BP and after 8 ka BP. See table 4 for details about

sites and dating). The main source of this rock is

located in the Andes cordillera about 180300 km

westwards of the Deseado Massif (table 4). On theMassif itself there are plentiful sources of excellent

lithic raw materials, but obsidian is used nonethe-

less, though infrequently and as part of curated tech-

nologies. The long procurement distance and result-

ing rarity value of obsidian suggests that this raw

material was an important item in the social rather

than economic web. The appropriation and circula-

tion of obsidian through very long distances was pos-

sibly related not only to its knapping properties (Belardi

et al 2004), but also to its brightness and colour.

Among several regional groups of hunter-gatherers

the colour and brightness of certain minerals are sym-

bols of power and veneration (see Bern & Curtoni

2002; Flegenheimer & Bayn 1999, for near Pampean

region and Aguerre 2000; Claraz 1988 and Hermo

2008 for Patagonian region).

The extended quotes that follow come from Pati, a

Tehuelche woman who lived in Ro Pinturas, and be-

came a valuable informant for archaeologists Carlos

Gradn and Ana Aguerre between 1970 and 2000.

Conversations between Pati and Aguerre provide evi-

dence for historical continuity in the sacred value at-

tributed to obsidian and pigments:

La piedra negralos raspadores se hacan

con otra piedra, de cualquier piedrapero para

las puntas o flechas bien hechasse usaba la

piedra negraClaro, esa es la negra bril lante(Aguerre 2000:98) (obsidian)

era algo sagrado buscar pinturano poda ir

cualquiera, era un lugar sagrado, nadie sabese iba una vez al ao, con un hombre para hacer

el campamento, pero despus iban lasmujeresel toldo lo arma el varn pero luego

se vavolvamos (al campamento familiar) a

los dos o tres dasdiriga la abuelauno saba

que tena que ir (Aguerre 2000:133)

pa ra l legar donde es taba la arc il la er alejosmarchar todo el da y quedarse a hacer

campamentoera lejos, era una tierra de

coloresera una parte muy sagradaSe

buscaba solamente el color de la tierra para

pi nt ar qu ill ango3, era algo sagradose

mezclaba con el agua del manantial. Donde estla pintura es como un caadn y arriba, llegandoa la pampita, es donde est el agua minerales

all donde est la pintura (Aguerre 2000:133)

The goods made from obsidian material may have

conferred its power to the owners (Ingold 1993; Taon

2004; Boivin & Owoc 2004). The circulation among

hunter-gatherers cemented not only social relation-

ships between people and supernatural beings (see

Boivin 2004; Saunders 2004; Politis 2007) , but also

communication among human groups of the

cordillera and extra-Andean zones.

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4.3. Burials and rock art

The distribution of burials accords with places of am-

bush and slaughter, in general associated with path-

ways of animals and petroglyphs. The majority of these

rocky monuments appeared in the late Holocene, how-

ever the symbolic segmentation of space assigned to

the dead and living began in the middle Holocene. In

general, burials are located on the edge of high pla-

teaux which are separated from valley bottoms or la-

goons with camp and household sites. This differen-

tial use of space by hunter-gatherers suggests there

were socially constructed attitudes, including ecologi-

cal, functional, and symbolic about these landscapes.

The high places with a panoramic view seem to have

been appointed for sacred practices such as burials

and appropriation of bright pigments. Meanwhile lower

and sheltered zones of basins seem to have been re-

lated to domestic activities. However, a new symbolic

configuration does not exclude middle Holocene envi-

ronmental, ecological and functional characteristics as

factors inducing social changes. For example, increas-

ing temperature and decreasing humidity (table 1)

could have stimulated a growth and persistence of

human population around fresh water sources (Goi &

Barrientos 2004; Rindel et al 2007). A growing popula-

tion in such places could have been an important rea-

son to develop logistical hunting activities away from

residential bases, which in turn are reflected in sym-

bolic attitudes to the dead:

...Los toldos4 se instalan lejos de donde se caza,

siempre la guanacada tiene el mismo sitio de

comedero y en verano los cerros, las pampas(plateaux), nunca en los caadones (Aguerre

2000:112)

Rock art also marks the differences between both

spaces. In fact, some parts of caves show differential

use of the inner space which could be explored

through rock art (Miotti et al 1999a; Miotti 2006c; Belardi

& Goi 2002; Carden 2007).Graves (mounds) are more frequent forms of burial

in Patagonia. The small niches in basalt cliffs and

rockshelters were appropriated as places for burials

during the early and middle Holocene in Patagonia,

but towards the end of the middle and beginning late

Holocene chenques (mounds of rocks) become the

common burial forms in Patagonia and in the southern

Pampean area (see table 3). Single, collective, primary

and secondary treatment of bodies, clustered or iso-

lated individuals, all appear in special landforms (on

peaks, volcanoes, dunes, hills, and edges of high pla-

teaux) which surround a valley or a bajo. In all cases

these sacred spaces are located in places with high or

wide visual domain of landscape.

During middle Holocene times, Patagonian hunter-

gatherers seemed to have consolidated and extended

their territories to neighbouring regions. Based on the

archaeological distribution of marine and cordilleran

items on the Central Plateau, the hypothesis proposed

here is that these objects were symbols of other land-

scapes with other resources, and perhaps metaphors

of power (Ingold 1986, 1993; Saunders 2004; Hermo

2004). Human mobility was affected not only by envi-

ronmental changes, but also by social (alliance, fis-

sion, fusion bands) and ideational agents like the ani-

mation and/ or humanisation of the Earth. Burial distri-

bution on hilltops and plateaus versus residential ar-

eas at the bottom of basin allows us to infer segrega-

tion of sacred and domestic places during the middle

Holocene in Patagonia, and this dichotomy was en-

hanced during the Late Holocene.

5 Conclusions

On a regional scale, the environmental conditions might

have been different and probably more stable during

the middle Holocene in high latitudes, compared to

middle or low latitudes. At least for the Deseado Pla-

teau (Miotti 2001, 2006b) and Beagle Channel (Orquera

2005), reliable evidence allows us to give a different

interpretation from that formulated in several papers of

the volume edited by Zrate et al (2005) about disper-

sal and mobility of human bands during the middle

Holocene. In Tierra del Fuego, the strong littoral mari-

time adaptation is supported by the uninterrupted oc-

cupation since 6 ka with a technology and a special

use of an environment (the channel, the coast, the for-

est, the open prairies on the coast) along the Beagle

Channel but also in the western channels (Orquera

2005; Vzquez et al 2007). The occurrence of terrestrialmammals (guanacos) and new lithic technologies ~3

ka reinforce the hypothesis that Canoeros groups (In-

dian people who inhabited the Fueguian and Magellan

channels) were changing from a marine to mixed diet

of marine and terrestrial faunas (Orquera 2005;

Vzquez et al 2007). In the Magellan Strait and on all

sites on the Atlantic coast the hypothesis of mixed ma-

rine and terrestrial diets is supported by faunal and

isotopic evidence (Barberena 2002, 2008; Carballo

2007; Bonomo 2005; Gmez Otero 2007; Salemme et

al 2007 a,b).

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5.1 In summary

1 The conditions may have been favourable for adifferent use of space among the hunter-

gatherers in particular landscapes, like the

Deseado Plateau, where eco-refuges with

abundant fresh water and concentrations of basic

resources, and higher temperatures would be

found and support an economy based on

guanaco appropriation.

2 In this Patagonian sub-area, middle Holocene

hunter-gatherers maximised their settlement and

differentiated use of microenvironments compared

to those of the colonisation phase during the

Pleistocene/Holocene transition and the EarlyHolocene. This is evidenced by the increased use

of ecorefuges combined with the symbolic

structuration of space valley bottoms and lagoons

for domestic activities and hilltops and plateaux

used for human transit and control, hunting

activities, and burial monuments into residential/

logistical and sacred activities.

3 It is possible that this sector of extra-Andean

Patagonia could have been a preferred area for

human occupation, even more than the Patagonian

coast which was used discontinuously in the

continental sector (figure 3). Or, effectively, anunequal distribution in human occupation occurred

in other mid-latitude regions, such as the Pampa

or Cuyo regions (see Politis & Madrid 2001; Gil et al

2005, Barrientos & Prez 2005).

4 If deep climatic changes had occurred in other sub-areas, the Deseado Plateau could have been a

suitable place for the concentration of resources

that could support human groups from thoseregions.

5 The Atlantic coast seems to have been anenvironment (to be) occupied sporadically or at

least for short periods, on the continent and in

Tierra del Fuego, as well, unless a sampling bias

might be masking the evidence.

6 The environmental changes which occurred duringthe Pleistocene/Holocene transition to the middle

Holocene such as eruptions, humidity and

temperature, tectonic activity (see table 1) must have

been undoubtedly important reasons for new

human decision making as regards mobility,

appropriation of places, and resources (Borrero2001a, 2004; Miotti & Salemme 2003, 2004;

Salemme & Miotti 2008). But also, environmentalchanges could have acted as triggers of ideological

and sociological changes. The consequences are

observed in the new uses of the landscape. The

symbolic categorisation of landscape, with placesdestined to holy or sacred activities and others

planned to develop domestic tasks, increased in

certain geomorphologic settings, like lakes and

rivers.

7 However, the hypothesis also needs to be

considered that the ideational realm was anindependent and pre-existing factor affecting the

process of social change. An ecosophical

perspective (Arhem 1990 in Politis 2007) reinforces

the idea that hunter-gatherer societies could be

organised around cosmological elements.

Physical features such as volcanoes, caves, high

plateaux or springs could have been powerfulbeings, and in this sense, sacred places.

6 Future directions

In this paper wider regional perspectives were con-

sidered only from radiocarbon dating (figure 3). Thisinformation was presented to analyse the human

occupations and mobility among different zones

(cordillera, plateaux, and coast). Then, taking into ac-

count the importance of archaeological results com-

ing from the lacustrian and fluvial Andean basins and

Magellan basin, I suggest that the Deseado Massif,

like these regions, will show an increase in the sites

occupied since the middle Holocene, especially close

to the headwaters of main rivers and lakes. However

this idea will need further study.

Acknowledgements

Organisers and convenors for their kind invitation to the

73rd meeting of SAA, Vancouver, Canada. Reviewers

made valuable suggestions and observations to reach

a better paper. The research was supported by PIP-

CONICET: #5885, and PICT- ANPCyT: 12.387. National

Science Foundation Grant EARO446861- Arizona AMS

Facility Lab; Fac Cs Naturales y Museo, Univ Nac de La

Plata, and Secretara de Cultura de Pico Truncado, Ar-

gentina. The Ferreiro, Iribarne, Koproski families, own-ers of Estancias of Santa Cruz province. Prof Liliana

Kuguel helped me with the translation.

Endnotes

1 MNBP Monumento Natural Bosques Petrificados

de Jaramillo, Santa Cruz province.

2 These particular indian burials are known in

regional bibliography as chenques. This word

comes from Tehuelche language, and was used

to denote burials covered with rocky mounds. The

size of these mounds is variable, were built by

heaping rocks, and their size is around 1m high,

2 or 3m long and 2m wide.

3 Quillango: leather of guanacos used among

Tehuelches to manufacture blankets and tents.

4 Toldos: tents or houshold unit of residential

bases.

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