Relationships between terrestrial animal exploitation, marine hunter-gatherers and palaeoenvironmental conditions during the Middle-Late Holocene in the Beagle Channel region (Tierra del Fuego)

Past human populations and landscapes in the Fuegian Archipelago, southernmost South America

“…2D and E) show a more dispersed distribution across the forest area, which contrasts with previous and subsequent temporal blocks. The increase in guanaco consumption recorded in Beagle Channel archaeological sites (Fernández et al, 2018) could also support a residential mobility increase by the exploitation of northern sectors of the inland.…”

“…This scenario could explain the subsistence diversification observed in the Beagle Channel area at ca. 5400–4600 cal yr BP, which is characterized by a significant decrease in pinniped consumption and an increase in bird (Zangrando, 2009) and guanaco resources (Fernández et al, 2018).…”

“…Changes in the zooarchaeological record at ca. 600 cal yr BP in the Beagle Channel area, concerning a decrease in guanaco remains, were also related to harsh environmental conditions ascribed to the LIA (Fernández et al, 2018). Nevertheless, as the same human trend is observed in the northern steppe/ecotone, where no cold episodes are registered, the European colonization process might be the most likely explanation of the contraction of the human signal, due to both the increase of residential mobility (to avoid the European contact; Borrero, 2001) and/or higher mortality rates (Suby et al, 2017).…”

“…Human occupation frequencies drop at ca. 5500 cal yr BP, probably due to a shift toward a more dispersed spatial occupation pattern, accompanied by diet diversification and a significant increase of guanaco consumption in the Beagle Channel area (Zangrando, 2009; Fernández et al, 2018). Because a cooling phase is registered by this time (Ponce et al, 2011), its ecological impact, likely coupled with the demographic increase recorded by age-at-death profiles (Suby et al, 2017), could be proposed as the main trigger for changes observed in human land use and subsistence patterns.…”

“…Particularly in the Fuegian Archipelago (southernmost South America; Fig. 1), some studies have considered environmental, geographic, ecological, and/or climatic factors to explain past human behavior (e.g., Borrero, 1999, 2008, 2013; Barberena, 2004; Muñoz, 2007; Borrazzo et al, 2008; McCulloch and Morello, 2009; Morello et al, 2009, 2012, 2015a; Zangrando et al, 2009; Coronato et al, 2011; Pallo, 2011, 2017; Fernández, 2013; Prieto et al, 2013; Pallo and Ozán, 2014; San Román, 2014; Mansilla et al, 2016; Pallo and Borrazzo, 2016; Fernández et al, 2018). However, systematic contributions discussing human–environmental interactions in the entire Fuegian Archipelago across the Holocene are still scarce.…”