The palynological study carried out in seven archaeological sites from Sierras of Córdoba Late Prehispanic Period (ca. 1500-360 yr BP) is presented in this article. The fossil pollen was used to assess the late prehispanic subsistence and mobility patterns based on their impact on local vegetation. Analogues obtained from modern vegetation and human-induced cultivation settings were used as a guideline for interpreting the ancient pollinic spectra. Results showed that anthropogenic pollen dominated by chenopod-amaranth plants occurred during a period of increased moisture and significant cultural change, where on-site farming and increasing occupation redundancy were identified. Thus, human disturbance and cultivation are thought to be the probable cause for elevated Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae percentage in fossil assemblages. Consequently, the late prehispanic societies were likely modifying vegetation more extensively than had been previously assumed and the composition of 'pristine' landscape was not only altered by climate change or after the Europeans' arrival. The ancient clearing of the forest for farming, housing, and/or other activities played a dynamic role in land cover conformation. So, the archaeological study of mixed foraging and cultivation economies needs to encompass human-plant-landscape interaction, leaving behind the concept of small-scale societies as passive foragers exploiting the ecosystem.

two fossil sections (late Quaternary), and a group of modern samples analyzed through pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, enabled the reconstruction of the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions of the lower basin of the Quequén Salado River (Buenos aires Province). the study was complemented with analysis of sedimentology, malacofauna, ostracods, diatoms, and mammal and archaeological remains. For the late Pleistocene, the scarce presence of microfossils, associated with eolian palaeoenvironments, allowed inferring arid/extremely arid climate conditions. in the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, evidence of a pedogenetic event suggests a brief lapse of climatic stability. Pollen indicates the development of a halophyte steppe, which remained in the area until the Middle Holocene. During the early Holocene (8,173 cal yr B) the sedimentology, malacofauna and microfossils evidenced a sea level rise. this event ended with the establishment of a brackish lacustrine body towards the Middle Holocene. after that, a pulse characterized by high humidity levels, indicate the replacement of the halophyte steppe by a gramineous steppe. Following that pulse during the 6,799 cal yr BP 5,603 cal yr BP lapse, the microfossils showed considerable variability, thus reflecting an alternation between relatively more humid and dry pulses. evidence indicates that during the late Holocene (~ 1,000 yr BP) modern ecosystems began to settle in the lower basin of the Quequén Salado River. two global climate changes, the Medieval Climate optimum (823 cal yr B-690 cal yr B) and the little ice age (389 cal yr B) were inferred through pollen and faunistic remains at QS 1 archaeological Site.

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