The arrival of Homo sapiens into the Southern Cone at 14,000 years ago

Abstract

The Arroyo Seco 2 site contains a rich archaeological record, exceptional for South America, to explain the expansion of <i>Homo sapiens</i> into the Americas and their interaction with extinct Pleistocene mammals. The following paper provides a detailed overview of material remains found in the earliest cultural episodes at this multi-component site, dated between ca. 12,170 <SUP>14</SUP>C yrs B.P. (ca. 14,064 cal yrs B.P.) and 11,180 <SUP>14</SUP>C yrs B.P. (ca. 13,068 cal yrs B.P.). Evidence of early occupations includes the presence of lithic tools, a concentration of Pleistocene species remains, human-induced fractured animal bones, and a selection of skeletal parts of extinct fauna. The occurrence of hunter-gatherers in the Southern Cone at ca. 14,000 cal yrs B.P. is added to the growing list of American sites that indicate a human occupation earlier than the Clovis dispersal episode, but posterior to the onset of the deglaciation of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the North America.