Tackling the Early Holocene Record in Patagonia
Creators: name: Méndez, César
name: Nuevo-Delaunay, Amalia
Publisher: name: The 88th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: South America: Patagonia and Southern Cone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/83897/south-america-patagonia-and-southern-cone
subject: Early Holocene
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6040/early-holocene
subject: Doble Lili
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/131789/doble-lili
subject: Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/272/resource-extraction-production-transportation-structure-or-features
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Chipped Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2/chipped-stone
subject: Dating Sample
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/3/dating-sample
subject: Geoarchaeology
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/350/geoarchaeology
subject: Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/136761/archaic
subject: Caves and Rockshelters
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/142890/caves-and-rockshelters
subject: Archaeological Overview
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/1/archaeological-overview
subject: Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/6/methodology-theory-or-synthesis
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The early Holocene archaeological record in Patagonia has always been elusive. It is often recorded as layers within multi-component cave sites where archaeological and natural materials accumulate. However ordered the layering, careful the excavation techniques, or large the quantity of radiocarbon dates, such sites are complex to interpret due to site redundancy, human/carnivore alternation, and the contribution of multiple sources of sediments, among others. Here we report a single-component early Holocene site around an erratic in a fluvial/glacial valley east of the Northern Ice Field of Central West Patagonia. The Doble Lili rock shelter features occupations spanning 9000 to 8300 cal BP in a continuous deposit extending beneath the rock, as well as open to the air. Lithic material includes both local and exotic (obsidian) tools and is diversified enough to suggest multiple activities consistent with a moderate-span occupation. Faunal material is infrequent, but indicates primarily the consumption of guanaco, the largest extant mammal in the region. This new site features no overlaying occupations as is the case with other records of the same age in the region and the vicinity. Hence, Doble Lili’s occupation is a reliable example of an early Holocene occupation in terms of assemblages, function, and chronology.