The Pleistocene/Holocene transition and human occupation in the Central Andes of Argentina: Agua de la Cueva locality

In the Central Andes of Argentina, evidences of early human occupations come from the Precordillera, a low mountain system which was under periglacial conditions prior to 14,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, when the Cordillera Principal and Cordillera Frontal were glaciated. The corridors for human migration across the Andes may have opened before 13,000 ¹⁴C yr BP. The Pleistocene/Holocene transition gave rise to a substantial variability of environments and consequently of natural resources for early people, who found in the Precordillera new ecosystems with suitable conditions for living. The first human groups arrived ca. 11,000 ¹⁴C yr BP at Agua de la Cueva rockshelter, located at 2900 m above sea level in the western flank of the Precordillera. The occurrence of raw material outcrops close to the site and the archaeofaunistic record indicate a local and likely seasonal exploitation of mountain resources. These early people lived in a shrub steppe environment under cooler and probably wetter conditions in which camelids were the most important food resource. Since 9000 ¹⁴C yr BP, warmer and drier conditions were dominant. Except for a lower intensity of human occupations, the site function of Agua de la Cueva seems to have remained the same.