RESUMENCon motivo de la creación del Parque Nacional Monte León (Santa Cruz, Argentina) y para mitigar el impacto producido por diversos procesos naturales y antrópicos, se llevó a cabo el Proyecto de Rescate Arqueológico Monte León. Se obtuvo información artefactual, arqueofaunística y cronológica, que aporta nuevas evidencias a la discusión del uso humano del espacio en la costa atlántica austral. Se destaca la utilización de distintos recursos marinos y de rocas disponibles localmente. No obstante, también se registraron variedades de obsidianas que enmarcan a Monte León dentro de un circuito mayor de interacción. Las ocupaciones humanas registradas se habrían sucedido desde el Holoceno medio y muestran un fuerte componente tardío (últimos 2000 años AP). PALABRAS CLAVES PALABRAS CLAVES

The role and extent of climate as a cause of the expansion and decline of human cultures is still debatable. It is clear, however, that human-environment interactions are enhanced and interplay more closely in climatically sensitive areas such as around hydrologically closed basins. Lago Cardiel is located at 498 S in the very arid rain shadow east of the Andes, providing an exceptionally receptive system to changes in hydrological balance. Results of a geophysical survey combined with sedimentological and geochemical studies provide a continuous Lateglacial-Holocene record of substantial water-level changes. These variations, combined with archaeological results from the catchment area, offer a unique possibility to explore the pattern of peopling within this remote area of the globe and its possible relation to climate change. Human occupation in Patagonia is well documented towards the Andes throughout the entire Holocene. Archaeological data from the Lago Cardiel basin, however, show an apparent lack of human activity during the first part of this period, which coincides with well-constrained high lake levels. Our results show an intriguing coincidence between low lake level and increasing human occupation, suggesting that the Lago Cardiel basin has focused human use during intervals with relatively lower effective moisture such as during the Late Pleistocene, but its evidence may have been submerged. This interpretation is confirmed by archaeological remains from Lago Strobel, another perennial lake with a comparable catchment located in the same climatic region and thus sharing the same climatic history as Lago Cardiel.

Este trabajo busca generar un aporte al conocimiento de la dinámica poblacional de cazadores, en Patagonia meridional, durante el Holoceno medio y tardío en el marco de condiciones climáticas altamente fluctuantes. Para este fin se analizaron distintas líneas de evidencias arqueológicas provenientes de diferentes ambientes del centro-oeste de la provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina. Se identificó una interesante variabilidad del registro arqueológico, en estrecha relación con las modificaciones ambientales registradas en el Holoceno.Palabras claves: Patagonia, cazadores-recolectores, Holoceno.this article seeks to generate a contribution to the knowledge of the peopling dynamics of hunters in southern Patagonia during the middle and late holocene within fluctuating climatic conditions. in order to do this, different archaeological evidences were analyzed from diverse environments in Santa cruz province (Argentina). An interesting variability in the archaeological record was identified, in close relation with the environmental modifications registered in the holocene.