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Archaeological research documents major technological shifts among people who have lived in the southern tip of South America (South Patagonia) during the last thirteen millennia, including the development of marine-based economies and changes in tools and raw materials. It has been proposed that movements of people spreading culture and technology propelled some of these shifts, but these hypotheses have not been tested with ancient DNA. Here we report genome-wide data from 20 ancient individuals, and co-analyze it with previously reported data. We reveal that immigration does not explain the appearance of marine adaptations in South Patagonia. We describe partial genetic continuity since ~6600 BP and two later gene flows correlated with technological changes: one between 4700–2000 BP that affected primarily marine-based groups, and a later one impacting all <2000 BP groups. From ~2200–1200 BP, mixture among neighbors resulted in a cline correlated to geographic ordering along the coast.

RESUMENEl sitio La Arcillosa 2, ubicado sobre la margen derecha del río Chico (Tierra del Fuego), a 2 km al oeste de la costa atlántica actual, representa un sitio multicomponente, datado entre 5500 y 3700 años AP. La acción eólica permanente sobre este sitio fue perturbando la integridad de un conchero que contenía como especie más abundante valvas de Mytilus edulis. El registro zooarqueológico proveniente del conchero comprende fundamentalmente ejemplares de moluscos y en menores proporciones huesos de vertebrados terrestres y marinos (guanaco, cetáceos, aves, tuco-tuco, peces, cánidos y pinnípedos) asociados a artefactos líticos de diversas materias primas. Se hallaron dos huesos largos de ave decorados con incisiones paralelas que cubren toda la circunferencia de los mismos y una cuenta ósea.Palabras clave: Zooarqueología, Conchero, Estepa fueguina, Holoceno medio. ABSTRACTLa Arcillosa 2 is a shell midden located along the right margin of the Chico river, two kilometers westwards of the present Atlantic coast. This multicomponent site has been dated between 5500 and 3700 years B.P. The permanent aeolian action has disturbed the site, composed mainly by Mytilus edulis shells. It is composed mainly of mussels and in less proportion of terrestrial and marine vertebrates (camelids, canids, rodents, cetaceans, pinnipeds, fishes and birds); they are associated to a lithic assemblage of different raw material and bone artifacts made on bird long bones, decorated with incisions, and a bony bead.

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