The first peoples of the Atacama Desert lived among the trees: A 11,600- to 11,200-year-old grove and congregation site.

ABSTRACT: In deserts, water has been singled out as the most important factor for choosing where to settle, but trees were likely an important part of the landscape for hunter-gatherers beyond merely constituting an economic resource. Yet, this critical aspect has not been considered archaeologically. Here, we present the results of mapping and radiocarbon dating of a truly unique archaeological record. Over 150 preserved stumps around five Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene archaeological campsites (12,800 to 11,200 cal BP) show that trees were key features in the creation of everyday habitats for the first inhabitants of the Atacama Desert. At two of these sites, QM12 and QM35, the spatial and chronological correlation between trees and hearths reveals that people located their homes under the tree c

SUBMITTER: Ugalde PC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11067013 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature