About 12,440 to 12,550 years ago, hunter-gatherers regularly returned to Chile’s Lake Taguatagua to hunt an ancient elephant relative called Gomphotherium and exploit other local resources, according to a team led by archaeologists from the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile.
Taguatagua 3 site, Chile: (A) Burning evidence spatially associated with Gomphothery cervical vertebrae and skull fragments. (B) Sacral and caudal vertebrae, intervertebral disks, and unfused hipbone segments. Note the distance between the first sacral vertebra and its disk. (C) End scraper from the site. (D) Core debitage from the site spatially associated with Gomphothery remains. Image courtesy of Labarca others., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302465.
There are several known archaeological sites in the area. Lake Taguatagua Located in central Chile, it is one of the oldest known sites of human habitation in the Americas.
In a new study, Dr Rafael Labarca from the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile and his colleagues discovered an ancient hunter-gatherer camp dating back to the Late Pleistocene epoch, between 12,440 and 12,550 years ago.
The site, named Taguatagua 3, contains fossils of the Gomphosele, an extinct species closely related to the elephant.
Butchery marks on bones, stone tools and other evidence indicate that Taguatagua 3 was a temporary camp set up to process large carcasses.
During the camp’s short existence, other activities were also carried out, including the processing of other foods, as evidenced by the charred remains of plants and small animals such as frogs and birds.
Fossilized cactus seeds and bird egg shells suggest that the camp was inhabited, especially during the dry season.
Numerous archaeological sites from a similar period are now known to exist in the area, suggesting that Lake Tagua-Tagua was a recurring hunting and food-scavenging site for Late Pleistocene people thanks to abundant and predictable local resources.
“The area was an important location along the route of mobile groups at the time and the temporary camp may have hosted regular meetings between these groups,” the archaeologists said.
Further investigation of this archaeologically rich area will continue to provide insight into the migration and survival strategies of early humans in South America.
“Taguatagua 3 contributes to a greater understanding of how early humans adapted to the rapidly changing environment of central Chile during the Late Pleistocene,” the researchers said.
of Investigation result Published online in the journal PLoS One.
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R. Labarca others2024. Taguatagua 3: A new Late Pleistocene settlement in a highly suitable site for lacustrine habitat in central Chile (34°S). PLoS One 19(5): e0302465; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302465
Source: www.sci.news
