The Late Quaternary landscape history of the Middle Rio Negro Valley, northern Patagonia, Argentina: its impact on preservation of the archaeological record and influence on Late Holocene human settlement patterns

摘要

Geoarchaeological investigations were conducted in the Middle R?o NegroValley in the northern portion of Patagonia, Argentina from 2004-2005. This projectworked in conjunction with archaeological investigations in this region conducted byLic. Luciano Prates (Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina). No previous studieson the detailed reconstruction of the landscape history had been conducted in this valley.In order to place the archaeological record in this landscape context, this project had fourmain research objectives: 1) to reconstruct the landscape history; 2) to incorporate theknown archaeological record into this landscape history; 3) to interpret natural formationprocesses and evaluate the preservation potential for archaeological sites; and 4) tointerpret how landscape history could have influenced settlement patterns. Altogether,six months of fieldwork consisted of field reconnaissance of the landscape and recordingof the regional stratigraphy through detailed analysis of sediments and soils,geomorphological features, and archaeological sites. This fieldwork was combined withanalysis of aerial photographs, topographical and geological maps, and sedimentological samples, in addition to the incorporation of radiocarbon and optically stimulatedluminescence dating of stratigraphic units. As a result, through landscapereconstruction, it was possible to evaluate the preservation of the archaeological record,its landscape context, and to construct a predictive model for the location ofarchaeological sites from the Late Pleistocene through Late Holocene. Study of LateHolocene channel avulsion and the formation of pools within abandoned avulsionchannels which occurred in one part of the study area suggest that landscape changepotentially influenced Late Holocene settlement patterns in the Middle R?o NegroValley.