Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16

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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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Ethnographical and historical accounts for understanding the exploration of T

new lands: The case of Central Western Patagonia, Southernmost South
America
Luis A. Borreroa, , Amalia Nuevo Delaunayb, César Méndezb
⁎

a
CONICET-Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas, Saavedra 15, Buenos Aires, Argentina
b
Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia (CIEP), Moraleda 16, Coyhaique, Chile

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Identifying the process of initial exploration of any given area is complex in the sense that it lies in the boundary
Exploration between the absence and presence of reliable anthropogenic evidence. However, how can we be certain that the
Hunter-gatherer ethnography data are in fact the result of exploration and not the result from a low-density archaeological record or other
Human dispersal process that might be mimicking this process? This paper presents selected ethnographical data to shed light on
Pleistocene Holocene transition
regional data that are key to understanding the process of exploration. Information on the human dispersal into
Central Western Patagonia
South America
new lands and on the management of knowledge is presented in the frame of hunter-gatherer territorial orga-
nization, mobility, technology and the use of resources, and then discussed in the context of the archaeological
record of Central Western Patagonia. It is suggested that although low in visibility, exploration is identifiable in
the regional archaeological record. Hunter-gatherers of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition occupied the Andean
fringe, moving out of some eastern occupational node and sacrificing the security of the motherland in exchange
for extending territorial reaches. The study provides solid grounds for discussing a case of exploration with
broader implications for the understanding of the archaeological correlates of exploration of new lands.

1. Introduction
The archaeology of the early process of exploration and colonization
of the western fringes of Patagonia is attractive because it entails an
important change in the pace of colonization. The case of Central
Western Patagonia (currently the region of Aisén, Chile) is particularly
robust because several successive research projects there were focused
on the early archaeological record, thereby accumulating a wealth of
information that currently can be discussed beyond the description of
artifacts and contexts. Indeed, evidence for an “initial, low-intensity
exploration of an unknown space” is clearly existent for Central
Western Patagonia (Méndez et al., 2018a: 24-25). Although the evi-
dence from neighboring regions might be absent or not fully compar-
able in methodological scope, grounds exist to suggest that during the
Pleistocene Holocene transition, human exploration of the western
fringes of Patagonia was a generalized process (Civalero and Aschero,
2003; Méndez and Reyes, 2008; Belardi et al., 2010; Martin and
Borrero, 2017). In fact, data from Central Western Patagonia reveal
significant information that is similar in broad aspects but different
because it shows a chronological lag when compared with the earliest
evidence from areas to the east at similar latitudes (Fig. 1). In this
paper, we propose expanding the discussion of human dispersals into
new lands by resorting to the ethnographic information on mobility of
hunter-gatherer groups faced with circumstances to build expectations
for understanding the exploration/colonization process of spaces, in-
dependently of the timeframe in which these processes occurred. Our
use of ethnographic information from other areas of the world does not
entail a belief in the direct application of such data, but instead refers to
our conviction that the limited information about the hunter-gatherer
mobility could illuminate our understanding of the complexities asso-
ciated with colonizing situations. We think that every archaeological
case should be sustained based on its own merits, and not because of its
similarity to known ethnographic situations. We use Central Western
Patagonia to illustrate a defendable archaeological case for the process
of exploration/colonization. Patagonia is key to this discussion because
it is one of the places to be explored later by humans and because it is
one corner of the earth where still some parts remain unexplored or
were incorporated very late, up to historical times.
The exploration of new lands can take many forms, occasionally
involving relatively high numbers of people carrying sophisticated

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: imhicihu@conicet.gov.ar (L.A. Borrero).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2019.02.001
Received 22 June 2018; Received in revised form 6 January 2019
0278-4165/ © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
L.A. Borrero et al. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16

Fig. 1. Map of Patagonia (southernmost South America) with main vegetation biomes and sites from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

technology, as in the cases of oceanic dispersals (Kirch, 2010, Walter remained at low population sizes for thousands of years (Goldberg
et al., 2017). The norm, however, is that exploration involves a few et al., 2016). Regional studies in Patagonia showed a constant demo-
people moving into a neighbor area, which most likely was the usual graphic increase, but local populations never approached high densities
case in Patagonia. Humans spread relatively rapidly across America but (Pérez et al., 2016). A combination of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)

2
L.A. Borrero et al.
sequences and calibrated radiocarbon dates from Patagonia corrected
for taphonomic biases was used by Pérez et al. (2016) to demonstrate a
constant demographic increase, with a population size that was rela-
tively stable during the earlier Early Holocene and with posterior in-
creases after 7000 cal BP. Archaeologically, these increases through
time are shown by the higher number of habitats utilized and the di-
versity of foods consumed through time. In general terms, since South
America was not saturated with people at the end of the Pleistocene or
during the Holocene, it follows that not all regions were explored at the
same time. Within the timeframe of the history of human occupations,
some regions were integrated at the end of the Pleistocene, while others
were included very late in time. In Patagonia, for example, regions like
the southern and western archipelagos were incorporated as late as the
middle Holocene (Reyes et al., 2015; San Román et al., 2016) and even
some parts of the continental forests of Central Western Patagonia (e.g.
Baker and Pascua basins) have shown no prehistoric archaeological
record despite being surveyed (Mena et al., 2007).
A relatively abundant literature is related to the early human dis-
persal in Patagonia (e.g., Orquera, 1987; Borrero, 1999; Miotti and
Salemme, 2003; Méndez, 2013; Prates et al., 2013), part of which is
devoted to the exploration of the Western ends of the steppes (e.g.,
Franco and Borrero, 2003; Borrero, 2004; Belardi et al., 2010; Martin
and Borrero, 2017; Méndez et al., 2018a). However, this literature is
often limited in the treatment of regional data. In selecting the Central
Western Patagonia, we present a more detailed case study of human
exploration of the western fringes of Patagonia.
2. Ethnographical information on the dispersal into new lands
The social organization of explorers is generally based on open in-
teracting systems in which information and personnel flux are im-
portant (Whallon et al., 2011). A small colonizing group would not
number sufficient people to be reproductively viable in the long term,
and explorers must interact with their former populations and terri-
tories to be successful (Wobst, 1974; Ives, 2015). Realistic demographic
units, or what Ives (2015) calls macrobands, are necessary to sustain
the process of exploration. Smaller units of 25–50 individuals, usually
referred as “bands” in the literature (Service, 1966), are focused on
subsistence – or, more adequately as observed by Lee (2003), on
sharing – and they are short-lived not only because of constant mem-
bership change but also due to the feasibility of disappearance
(Blundell, 1980). Fluid membership is a highly probable condition for
pioneer populations (Peterson, 1979: 113; Blundell, 1980: 109). Dif-
ferences from generation to generation in membership are well re-
corded in the literature on hunter-gatherers (Yellen, 1977) and gen-
erally are related to changes in group size and home ranges. Through
time, this state of flux becomes a cause for camp disbanding and
eventually for dispersal (Blundell, 1980: 113; Lee, 2003). This process is
firmly rooted in hunter-gatherer social organization. It has been argued
that colonizing societies are often matrilineal (Keegan, 2010), in which
“in-marrying males needed to keep touch with their own social group
and return frequently”, but this point is difficult to test archae-
ologically. In any case, a system that generates an adequate degree of
mobility – a requisite for landscape learning – is necessary (Keegan,
2010: 176; Amick, 2017: 131).
As emphasized by Peter Woodman, “we may never fully appreciate
the reason for a move to new lands” (Woodman, 2016: 120). The rea-
sons could be multiple and might include historical factors such as
misbalances in the diet, diminishing availability of space or other re-
sources or social tensions at a nodal area. These reasons are most likely
negative – push – reasons for searching for second-choice habitats
(Anthony, 1990). Occasionally, usually under density-dependent con-
ditions, the best answer for human demes is fission and the consequent
dispersal. Renouf (1999) considers them “strategic evacuations” when
referring to a similar phenomenon. Indeed, it is a mistake to think
strictly in terms of community-wide responses to misbalances,
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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
catastrophe or other conditions leading to dispersal. Rather, dispersal is
more likely to be performed by a partiality than by a complete group.
Range shifts might or might not be associated with resource depletion,
but the dispersal of part of a population no doubt alleviates any de-
mographic tensions. For that reason, colonizing demes, rather than
populations, expanding into new and geographically marginal en-
vironments is the expected outcome of misbalances.
Ethnography offers useful examples to understand long-range
movements of people. The search for new hunting grounds by the
Nunamiut or the Chipewyan entailed long distances and long periods
away from their population cores (Binford, 1991; Jarvenpa and
Brumbach, 2016). Occasionally, these ventures ended with the ex-
plorers separated from their population cores, but in some cases, they
ended with their return. Examples of important displacements with
final homecoming to their point of origin are abundant. Such a return
even occurred with the famous 19th Century Inuit “migration” from
Baffin Land to NW Greenland, which was most likely caused by a social
conflict (Mary-Rouselière, 2008 [1980]). Of course, all these examples
from the Arctic or Subarctic regions can only be used as illustrations of
possible alternatives on hunter-gatherers moving across the landscape.
We choose to integrate these sources because they illustrate the varia-
bility of situations that people moving out of familiar grounds faced.
The velocity of dispersal can be another significant variable. Once
again, the Inuit “migration” is instructive here because it shows that
dispersal can be achieved within an intra-generational timeframe
(Mary-Rouselière, 2008 [1980]). In contrast, the Chipewyan dispersal
was slower, taking approximately eight generations (Jarvenpa and
Brumbach, 2016: 13), and was finalized with people installed in a
completely new land. The difference in time between the dispersals of
the Chipewyan (ca. 50 km/year) and the Inuit (ca. 70–80 km/yr) is that
the former had sufficient time to adapt to the new habitat. In contrast,
the short-time dispersal of the Inuit showed that people were not au-
tomatically adapted to the new habitats and resources, even when there
were local populations exploiting them. Thus, they experienced several
challenges to their maintenance of subsistence levels. Rockman (2003:
17) calculated that 200–400 years or more is the required timeframe to
become acquainted with a new region. Although we should be open to
other timeframes, the limited relevant ethnographic data are con-
cordant with such a range. From Port Prince of Wales in the Hudson Bay
to the Coppermine River in the coasts of the Arctic, the exploration of
Samuel Hearne between 1770 and 1772 accompanied by Chipewyan
and using aboriginal technology was also used to estimate the velocity
of human migration into Scandinavia (Sørensen et al., 2013). However,
that route was previously known by the Chipewyan (Fuller, 1999),
limiting its use as an analog for exploratory movements. What all these
examples show is the importance of previous knowledge and the var-
iation between swift or relatively slow human dispersal. These ex-
amples provide alternative ways for understanding human dispersals,
particularly non-direct ways of moving. Because of all these con-
siderations, the virtues of a flexible model of dispersal, one that con-
siders both advances and retractions, are evident. Such a model con-
siders a non-direct mode of dispersal. People would create a cultural
geography in which those located at advance posts would continue
interacting with those locations “left behind”, thereby consolidating the
advance into new land within a supra-generational framework. Ex-
ploring populations, although remaining in small groups, should
maintain ties to larger units to promote information acquisition and
flux (Kelly, 2003). This condition makes sense within a metapopula-
tional framework (Hopkinson et al., 2013). It not only inhibits the
creation of reproductive barriers related to the reduced survival of
immigrants in foreign habitats, known as “immigrant inviability” (Nosil
et al., 2005), but also serves in creating conditions for multiple out-
comes, only some of which constitute successful installation into new
lands. As explained by Holly (2011), failure could be the result of
people’s choices – bad decisions – but can also be the result of in-
adequate ecological conditions. Whether early explorers used risk-
L.A. Borrero et al.
averse or risk-prone strategies is an open question. Anderson (2012:
242) suggested that explorers were not inclined to take risks. However,
people cannot be conservative when exploring (Meltzer, 2009: 235,
Borrero, 2015). Ethnographic observations show that risky enterprises
such as the longest logistical trips or tasks requiring greater mobility are
performed by young people, as in the well-known “lover’s camps”
discussed by Binford among the Nunamiut (Binford, 1991: 59). This
example and others are backed by neurological studies showing not
only that risk taking and venturing away from the nuclear group is a
characteristic of young people but also that such behavior is an adap-
tive trait (Thompson et al., 2001; Spear, 2007; Dobbs, 2012). In fact,
the mummified remains of the young male recovered from Kwäday Dän
Ts’ínchi in a glacier from British Columbia are consistent with an ex-
plorer traveling alone and carrying food and tools designed for his
journey (Beattie et al., 2000). In concordance, studies of early human
skeletons in North America suggest that these people were risk-takers
(Chatters, 2014).
3. Knowledge
Dispersal of humans into new habitats first requires acquiring geo-
graphic knowledge. In fact, hunter-gatherers’ decisions when foraging
or changing residences are critically mediated by information (Kelly,
1995). Most likely, one critical variable to consider in relation to
knowledge acquisition and landscape learning is the presence of a re-
sident population, which will influence the rate and success of dispersal
(Meltzer, 2003). Accordingly, a cultural geography was constructed
during dispersal. Places to camp, circulate or hunt were selected, re-
tained and/or discarded. There were areas that facilitated dispersal and
areas to be circumvented. Ethnography shows that this knowledge is
usually fixed with toponyms, which occasionally – but not always
(Willerslev, 2007) – are incorporated into oral narratives (Aporta,
2009). Based on ethnographical information, Kelly (2003) has sug-
gested that faced with unknown lands, human groups will focus their
attention on topographic markers to create mental maps. In this pro-
cess, the incorporation of cultural content into natural landscapes is
expected (Gillespie, 2007).
There is variation in how knowledge is acquired. For instance, focal
resources can prove difficult to incorporate simply because they are not
easy to find. This aspect is also a good reason to consider them costly in
comparison with widespread resources, which can be more easily re-
cognized and incorporated by recently arrived people. Ubiquitous key
resources in some areas might accelerate the exploration/colonization
of new lands as suggested for the coastal landscapes along the western
desert of South America (Salazar et al., 2018). There is also variation in
the acquisition of knowledge related to different classes of resources.
Knowledge about plants is generally slower in comparison with
knowledge about animals. A process of trial and error is generally
needed for the reconnaissance of new plants, which occasionally can be
extended if detoxification is required. Similar problems arise with some
animals, such as poisonous fish or seasonally toxic shellfish, but are
almost nonexistent for mammals. Trial-and-error can be blind or fore-
sighted, depending upon previous experience with similar conditions
and materials (Dennett, 2013: 21). The presence and ubiquity of toxic
consumables is environmentally dependent and might have been a
major issue in traversing habitats such as the Amazonian or other tro-
pical rainforests (Wilson and Dufour, 2002; Roberts and Petraglia,
2015). In South America, plant resource processing in such environ-
ments and even the possibility of “toxic landscapes” have been ac-
knowledged (Dillehay, 2012). This short discussion of vegetal and an-
imal transfers implicates another important contrast, which is between
healthy and toxic resources. Vegetal transfers most likely involved
foresighted trials. Johns and Kubo present a review of plant detox-
ification processes that highlights the fact that plants requiring this
treatment are abundant and rich in nutrients (Johns and Kubo, 1988:
82-83). Detoxification can be about improving palatability or
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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
digestibility, but occasionally is required to avoid death, as in the case
of the 19th Century Burke-Wills expedition to the central deserts of
Australia. The plants that most likely contributed to kill Wills and Burke
were known and routinely consumed by the local Yandruwandha, with
the important difference that the latter were acquainted with the de-
toxification process (Cathcart, 2013).
Animals can also require caution. In 1774, during his travels in the
Pacific, James Cook and his crew were twice exposed to poisonous fish
meat. The result was motor paralysis and other symptoms for several
men, including Cook and the naturalist Johann Forster, and the death of
dogs, hogs and a parakeet (Doherty, 2005; Siddall, 2014). Many times,
European explorers negatively exemplified the difficulties of acquiring
local subsistence knowledge (review in Borrero, 2011). Knowledge
acquisition is a necessary consideration for the dispersal of populations
into new lands, in relation to both the speed of and the geographical
preferences for such dispersal. Not necessarily reaching the danger le-
vels related to these examples of toxic foods, sub-optimal resources are
many times among the first products incorporated when arriving in new
lands. It simply takes time and experience to learn what is best. Food
shortages due to environmental ignorance can contribute to the diffi-
culties of settling in a new land.
One of the most straightforward means of addressing knowledge in
archaeological cases of hunter gatherers is by resorting to lithic mate-
rials. These are ubiquitous and often survive longer than other mate-
rials. Archaeological examples for the importance of knowledge can be
obtained from studying quarry sites, caches, and the overall distribution
of lithics in the landscape (Gillespie, 2007, Méndez et al., 2018b).
Previous analyses of landscape unfamiliarity (Kitchel, 2018) differ
significantly from ours, since we do not believe that long distance lithic
transport from previously colonized regions or robust toolkit designs
are indications of landscape unfamiliarity. We believe that widespread
and easy-to-find local or semi-local rocks will be most used during the
process of exploration (Borrero and Franco, 1997). In fact, long distance
transport in Patagonia, as indicated by geochemical analysis of obsidian
artifacts only starts during the early Holocene, when most regions were
already occupied for at least one or two millennia (Méndez et al., 2012,
2018b; Stern, 2018).
A basic distinction needs to be made between the archaeological
expectations of an exploring versus colonizing population (Borrero,
1989-90, 1999; Borrero and Franco, 1997). Basically, explorers do not
necessarily select optimal locations and occupational discontinuity is
expected between the former and posterior occupations. They also must
deal with uncertainty and will have to resort to trial-and-error tactics,
which are often costly. The most visible and widespread lithic and
subsistence resources should be utilized, and only minimal evidences of
distant transport and the behaviors involved with it (high curation,
long-lived designs, evidences of edge rejuvenation, etc.)- should be
expected in the assemblages. Posterior occupations by colonizers should
display higher site redundancy, a more optimal mapping on resource
rich landscapes and the use of a wider spectrum of the local resources.
What is interesting is that given the small numbers of people indicated
by the size of the early human occupations, it is not likely that ex-
ploration behavior would be swamped by the more abundant coloni-
zation record of inhabitants already familiar with their range.
4. Geography of Central Western Patagonia, Chile
Central Western Patagonia (Aisén Region, Chile) is located between
ca. 43° and 49° S and is a vast region with a diversity of habitats. Its
geography is dominated by the north-south distribution of the Andes
that occupies the westernmost areas and partially submerges into the
sea, forming the western archipelagos. East of this mountain range,
ample glacial valleys project with a gentle slope into the extra-Andean
Argentinean pampas. The westerly wind belt brings abundant rain to
the abrupt and densely forested western slope, which diminishes to-
ward the leeside, producing a wide forest-steppe ecotone projecting
L.A. Borrero et al.
onto the open fluvioglacial landscapes east of the Andes (Luebert and
Pliscoff, 2006; Garreaud, 2009). Andean river valleys, once covered
with glaciers until approximately 19,000 cal BP, appeared after pro-
glacial lakes drained into the Pacific by 13,000 cal BP or later (Bendle
et al., 2017; García et al., 2018; Mendelova et al., 2017; Thorndycraft
et al., 2019). Available records of pollen sedimentary sequences at an
altitude of 920 masl in the northern part of Central Western Patagonia
suggest a rise in effective moisture starting in 14,700 cal BP, which led
to the establishment of the forest-steppe ecotone in approximately
11,500 cal BP (de Porras et al., 2012). Pollen records at 1000 masl in-
dicate higher areas were free of ice by 8200 cal BP (McCulloch et al.,
2017). Other regional pollen records within the forest (and thus less
sensitive) are in general agreement with the timing of deglaciation and
the transition into Holocene conditions (Markgraf et al., 2007; Villa-
Martínez et al., 2012; de Porras et al., 2014). The interior valleys that
cross the Andes in this region are originated at the east of the mountain
range and their headwaters are the areas where the archaeological re-
cord discussed in this paper has been located. These are relatively
young landscapes that required time to become biologically productive
and suitable for human populations (Méndez et al., 2018a). Given that
they occur at the lee side of the Andes, this territory represents an
ecological continuum with the eastern extra-Andean steppe in terms of
floral and faunal communities and the dominance of semiarid to arid
environments (Luebert and Pliscoff, 2006, Barberena et al., 2017).
One relevant biogeographical question is when large mammal spe-
cies began to expand their range into Central Western Patagonia. The
evidence of large extinct fauna recorded in Baño Nuevo 1 site, dated
between 13,010–13,1501 and 14,280–14,970 cal BP (Mena and
Stafford, 2006; López-Mendoza and Mena-Larraín, 2011) and in Las
Guanacas cave (north of General Carrera-Buenos Aires lake) dated to
15,740–16,070 cal BP (Labarca et al., 2008), are informative (Table 1).
Several species of extinct and modern animals were recorded at those
sites. Among the extinct ones, the paleontological record shows My-
lodon darwinii, Macrauchenia patachonica, Hippidion saldiasi, Dusicyon
avus, Diabolotherium cf. nordenskioldi, Arctotherium sp., camelids and
felids (Trejo and Jackson, 1998; Labarca et al., 2008; López-Mendoza
and Mena-Larraín, 2011; Westbury et al., 2017). The faunal remains
from Baño Nuevo 1 and Las Guanacas show that viable environments
for humans existed well before their arrival in Central Western Pata-
gonia (Fig. 2). The variability of such taxa indicates environments si-
milar to those from the Última Esperanza region (50°S), from which
there are much-more-complete faunal assemblages (Borrero et al.,
1997; Villavicencio et al., 2015).
Importantly, changes in altitude are notable in Central Western
Patagonia. Increases in altitude are associated with substantial changes
in the diversity of habitats and resources (e.g., location of the treeline).
The number and diversity of resources diminish at higher locations,
whereas costs for human circulation increase. Therefore, even when
more habitats are within any given foraging radius, their sustainability
is costly and limited, particularly on a seasonal basis at this latitude.
This situation is particularly true in Central Western Patagonia, where
winter snow cover leads us to ask to what degree did seasonality con-
dition the colonization of these habitats (Reyes et al., 2006; Méndez and
Reyes, 2008). Archaeobotanical and archaeofaunal remains from sites
between 740 and 940 masl (Baño Nuevo 1 and El Chueco 1, respec-
tively) with occupations spanning the Holocene have shown the re-
current presence of guanaco (Lama guanicoe) subadults (Méndez et al.,
2011: 236) and charred seeds and fruits of Berberis sp., Ericaceae,
Fragaria chiloensis and Libertia sp. (Belmar et al., 2017; Méndez et al.,
2018a), which are summer indicators. Given that fruit yield occurs in
1
All radiocarbon ages discussed in this paper were calibrated to a 2-sigma
range with Calib 7.0.4 (Stuiver et al. 2013), using the ShCal13 curve (Hogg
et al. 2013) and are expressed in calibrated years before present (cal BP)
rounded to the nearest tenth.
5
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
the spring and/or summer, winter bio-indicators at this latitude are less
expected to occur, thus enhancing summer season visibility and the
need for caution (Belmar et al., 2017: 618). However, we must consider
that the current pollen distributions for the expected assemblages
during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition are now located hundreds of
meters above the sites sampled for sedimentary sequences, such as El
Shaman, suggesting an average temperature several degrees lower by
the time the first explorers entered the region. Beyond altitude, we
should also consider the distribution of winter pastures in Central
Western Patagonia, which currently can be located approximately
20 km to the east, in places such as the Casa de Piedra Roselló site in
Chubut, Argentina (Castro Esnal et al., 2017).
5. Archaeology of the initial peopling of Central Western
Patagonia
The first human occupations occur well after the process of degla-
ciation was completed (Bendle et al., 2017; García et al., 2018). The
Cueva de la Vieja site in the Ñirehuao valley presents the earliest dated
evidence for the region in 11,760–12,030 cal BP (Fig. 3b) (Méndez
et al., 2018a). The El Chueco 1 site in the upper Cisnes river valley was
used initially in 11,240–11,650 cal BP (Reyes et al., 2007; Méndez
et al., 2011, Fig. 3a). These two sites bear basal occupations with only a
handful of artifacts associated with charcoal and/or hearth features.
These cave sites and the Baño Nuevo 1 site, also in Ñirehuao, yielded
evidence for redundant occupations thereafter with slightly more-in-
tensive human use after 10,700 cal BP (Méndez et al., 2016a, 2018a).
The “three sites show a remarkable synchronicity in periods of activity
and abandonment throughout the Holocene (…) El Chueco 1 and Cueva
de la Vieja were initially occupied during the Pleistocene-Holocene
transition, and all three sites show recurrent (and a higher density of)
occupational events during the early Holocene” (Méndez et al., 2018a:
27). The remains of 10 individuals were dated in the Baño Nuevo 1 site
precisely during the early Holocene (Mena et al., 2003; Mena and
Stafford, 2006). From 8000 cal BP onwards, a series of abandonment
phases appear intermingled with “pulse”-like occupational events in
these sites, thereby demonstrating the discontinuous nature of the
human occupation of Central Western Patagonia throughout the Ho-
locene (Méndez et al., 2018a). These discontinuities conform with the
changes in frequency of charcoal particles in cores taken from El
Shaman Lake, only 6 km distant from the El Chueco 1 site, indicating a
correlation between Holocene wildfires and occupational events de-
tected at the latter (Méndez et al., 2016a). Further south, in the Cha-
cabuco valley, the earliest dated evidence is that of the Entrada Baker
rockshelter site, dated at 8310–8780 cal BP (Mena and Jackson, 1991:
174). Given that research in this area has not been as intense as in the
former, initial arrival dates must be considered preliminary (Mena and
Blanco, 2017).
To understand the broader picture, we can also consider the evi-
dence from other sites located within 80 km of the evidence presented
above. The Casa de Piedra Roselló, in Chubut, Argentina (Castro Esnal
et al., 2017), is located at the forest-steppe ecotone approximately
25 km from the area of Cueva de la Vieja and Baño Nuevo 1. It was
occupied from 8700 to 9010 cal BP and yielded a basal occupation with
1 tool along with 191 debitage remains, although subsequent levels
revealed higher artifact densities (Castro Esnal et al., 2017). In addi-
tion, 80 km from these two sites, the Alero Dasovich site yielded a basal
occupation labeled Component 7 dated between 11,960–12,740 and
11,250–12,120 cal BP (Aguerre et al., 2017). Contextual information
from these sites and variability in artifact frequencies over time are
similar to those at the earliest levels of the El Chueco 1 and Cueva de la
Vieja sites. Concerning the southern part of Central Western Patagonia,
the earliest reliable date in the environs is 10,720–11,2400 cal BP from
the Casa de Piedra 7 site in Perito Moreno National Park, 80 km to the
south of the Entrada Baker rockshelter (Civalero and Aschero, 2003).
However, in the immediate vicinity, basal occupation dates of the
L.A. Borrero et al. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16

Table 1
Radiocarbon ages from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Central Western Patagonia.
14
Site Dated feature Laboratory code C age (years BP) Dated material Anthropogenic Reference
association

Cueva de la Vieja Hearth # 13 D-AMS 008982 8413 ± 50 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2018a)
Baño Nuevo 1 Associated to individual #3 BETA 90892 8530 ± 160 charred material AAC Velásquez and Mena
(2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Vegetal fibers UCIAMS 10099 8695 ± 25 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Cueva de la Vieja Hearth # 4 BETA 373166 8790 ± 50 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2018a)
El Chueco 1 Charcoal concentration UGAMS 6110 8830 ± 30 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2011)
El Chueco 1 Charcoal concentration UGAMS 5843 8830 ± 30 organic sediment AAC Méndez et al. (2011)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 2 CAMS 36633 8850 ± 50 bone collagen AAC Mena et al. (2003)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 2 CAMS 36634 8880 ± 50 bone collagen AAC Mena et al. (2003)
Baño Nuevo 1 Associated to individual # 2 BETA 90889 8890 ± 90 charred material AAC Velásquez and Mena
(2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 4 CAMS 101894 8945 ± 40 bone collagen AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 3 CAMS 101893 8950 ± 60 bone collagen AAC Velásquez and Mena
(2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 1 CAMS 79933 8950 ± 50 bone collagen AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 10 UGAMS 5002 8960 ± 40 tooth collagen AAC Reyes et al. (2012)
El Chueco 1 Charcoal/ash concentration UGAMS 5842 8970 ± 30 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2011)
Baño Nuevo 1 Coprolite UCIAMS 10095 8975 ± 20 macrobotanical remains AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 5 UCIAMS 10098 8990 ± 30 bone collagen AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Individual # 7 UGAMS 5927 9020 ± 30 bone collagen AAC Reyes et al. (2012)
Baño Nuevo 1 Hearth UCIAMS 10091 9070 ± 25 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Associated to individual # 1 CAMS 80532 9070 ± 50 macrobotanical remains AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Wood fragment UCIAMS 10087 9155 ± 25 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Hearth BETA 90888 9200 ± 80 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Hearth UCIAMS 10093 9245 ± 25 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Ctenomys sp.) UCIAMS 10103 9260 ± 25 bone collagen AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Cueva de la Vieja Charcoal speckles BETA 317157 9400 ± 40 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2018a)
Cueva de la Vieja Charcoal speckles UGAMS 170011 9400 ± 25 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2018a)
Baño Nuevo 1 Wood fragment UCIAMS 10097 9435 ± 25 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Hearth UCIAMS 10094 9530 ± 25 charred material AAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
El Chueco 1 Charcoal speckles BETA 227703 10010 ± 60 charred material AAC Reyes et al. (2007)
Cueva de la Vieja Charcoal speckles D-AMS 005300 10226 ± 43 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2018a)
Cueva de la Vieja Hearth # 14 D-AMS 008980 10269 ± 43 charred material AAC Méndez et al. (2018a)
Baño Nuevo 1 Associated to individual # 1 CAMS 71702 11240 ± 40 bone collagen DA Velásquez and Mena
(2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Associated to individual # 1 CAMS 72356 11250 ± 50 bone collagen DA Velásquez and Mena
(2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Mylodon sp.) UCIAMS 10105 11255 ± 30 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Mylodon sp.) UCIAMS 10106 11265 ± 35 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Mylodon sp.) UCIAMS 10104 11410 ± 25 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Mylodon sp.) CAMS 32685 11480 ± 50 bone collagen NAAC Mena et al. (2003)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (ungulate) UCIAMS 10110 12000 ± 35 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Macrauchenia UCIAMS 19491 11665 ± 50 bone collagen NAAC Velásquez and Mena
sp.) (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (ungulate) UCIAMS 10109 12320 ± 30 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Wood fragment UCIAMS 10101 12325 ± 30 macrobotanical remains NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (ungulate) UCIAMS 10111 12400 ± 30 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Baño Nuevo 1 Faunal remains (Mylodon sp.) UCIAMS 10107 12510 ± 30 bone collagen NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)
Cueva Las Guanacas Faunal remains (Equidae) UCIAMS 53544 13275 ± 30 bone collagen NAAC Labarca et al. (2008)
Baño Nuevo 1 Wood fragment UCIAMS 10100 13480 ± 35 macrobotanical remains NAAC Mena and Stafford (2006)

Note: AAC: Associated to anthropogenic context; DA: dubious association; NAAC: not associated to anthropogenic context (paleontological).

Milodón Norte 1 cave at 8630–8990 cal BP and of Cerro Cuadrado 3 at
8320–8460 cal BP in the northern coast of Pueyrredón Lake are closer
to the initial dates of Entrada Baker, although associated with higher
artifactual densities (Sacchi et al., 2016).
The first human presence at each of the three earliest sites of Central
Western Patagonia lies stratigraphically over several centimeters of
unconsolidated sediment (Fig. 4), thus suggesting that the basal occu-
pations occurred several millennia after glaciers and glacial features
retreated and when sediment particles were made available in the en-
vironments they occur. Moreover, occupations were restricted to the
inner parts of caves, as indicated by test excavations in the talus slope
outside the El Chueco 1 (5 m2) and Baño Nuevo 1 (2 m2) sites, which
resulted in no archaeological evidence (Fig. 3c). All these early sites
show a very discrete human presence as suggested by low discard rates,
few and small features with low investment and, primarily, dis-
continuous occupations. Based on the characteristics of the archae-
ological record as well as on date distribution, we suggest that the
initial exploration took place in the region sometime around 12,000 to
11,000 cal BP, and that colonizing populations appear during the early
Holocene when the archeological record becomes more frequent and
sites were redundantly visited. Within this panorama of overall dis-
continuity, below we review specific aspects of the archaeological
evidence that might shed light on the nature of the exploration process
of a new land.
5.1. Features
Features can be indicative of the time span and planning in the use
of a locality (Chatters, 1987). All hearth features in the early sites of
Central Western Patagonia are small, and there is no indication of re-
occupation. The earliest feature (#14) at Cueva de la Vieja, an un-
excavated hearth dated to 11,760–12,060 cal BP, points to short-term
use of the site (Méndez et al., 2018a). Immediately above is located
hearth #13, an excavated feature dated to 9260–9520 cal BP that can

6
L.A. Borrero et al.
Fig. 2. Superimposed summed probability plots of anthropogenic ages (grey) and non-anthropogenic and dubiously associated ages (white) from Central Western
Patagonia based on Table 1. The diminishment in the chronological distribution in 9000 cal BP is an artifact of our sample selection.
be interpreted as a longer-lived, more planned bonfire (Fig. 3b). A
somewhat similar picture can be described for the El Chueco 1 site, at
which no features were recorded in association with the deepest level.
Later, a weak archaeological signature is indicated by the presence of
four features, among them small hearths and ash/charcoal concentra-
tions all independently dated between 9920–10,200 and 9010–9320 cal
BP (Méndez et al., 2011). At Baño Nuevo 1, 3 hearths dated to
10,250–10,490 and 10,180–10,240 cal BP were also small and surficial
(not prehistorically dug out) features, and there is no indication of their
reuse (Mena and Stafford, 2006, Reyes personal communication).
5.2. Human remains
As we will discuss below, we do not expect human burials as evi-
dence for the exploration phase. The earliest human remains in
Patagonia correspond to a 10-individual assemblage excavated in the
Baño Nuevo 1 site from close to the rear and wall of the cave (Reyes
et al., 2012). Two adult males, one adult female, two adolescent males
and 5 newborns comprise this varied group. Seven of them were di-
rectly dated by AMS on collagen (Mena et al., 2003; Mena and Stafford,
2006; Reyes et al., 2012; Méndez et al., 2014). A T-test suggests that
these dates are statistically indistinguishable and can be averaged at a
two-sigma range between 10,180 and 9920 cal BP. Genetically, five of
the Baño Nuevo 1 individuals (one with a dubious association with this
group) belong to the mtDNA B haplogroup, and one belongs to the
mtDNA haplogroup C (Reyes et al., 2012). The mtDNA haplogroup B is
7
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
uncommon in southern Patagonian ethnographic populations but can
be considered the founding population for the northern Patagonia
B121233 clade (De Saint Pierre et al., 2012; Jackson et al., 2015).
Contemporary human remains have not been directly dated in Pata-
gonia, suggesting differences in the use of caves in a way that was not
known in Eastern Patagonia. An exception might be that of the Epullán
Grande cave site in Neuquén, in which the remains of an individual
were recorded lying directly on the bedrock with an associated age of
11,180–11,770 cal BP based on charcoal excavated close to them
(Crivelli Montero et al., 1996). The human remains from Baño Nuevo 1
inform about people relatively settled during a short period of the early
Holocene, burying their dead in unusual locations and maintaining a
broad-spectrum subsistence (see below).
5.3. Lithics
Lithic material is the most ubiquitous material in early Patagonian
sites due to differential preservation. In Central Western Patagonia,
sites with good age/depth control indicate a marked increase in lithic
deposition when comparing the earliest human presence and the sub-
sequent occupations (Fig. 5). This increase is observable in the number
of lithic classes represented at the sites which suggests not only longer
stays, but wider diversity in the activities conducted (Table 2). The
basal excavated levels at Cueva de la Vieja yielded one bifacial frag-
ment and three expedient large marginally flaked tools, along with
chipping debris. The small bifacial fragment was manufactured on a
L.A. Borrero et al.
Fig. 3. Early sites of Central Western Patagonia: (a) El Chueco 1, general view
of the excavations from the rear; (b) the 9260–9520 cal BP excavated hearth
(#13) at Cueva de la Vieja; and (c) excavations in the talus outside Baño Nuevo
1 cave.
siliceous rock which has not been yet recorded among raw materials
available in the Ñirehuao valley. These artifacts were recovered in di-
rect association with hearth #14, marking the base of the human oc-
cupation. The most recurrent lithic raw material for this basal deposit is
mid-to-coarse grained basalt, of which a significant quantity of the
debris and two of the expedient tools were manufactured. A high pro-
portion of cortex and flake thickness but no indication of rejuvenation
suggests that these tools were short-lived, rapidly discarded, and most
likely used in few activities at this briefly occupied location (Méndez
et al., 2018a). Only one multifunctional coarse-grained andesite tool
was recovered for the basal level at El Chueco 1 (Reyes et al., 2007).
Attributes shared by these artifacts, such as overall thickness of the
flakes selected, retouch limited to the edges, and relatively poor raw
material quality indicate close similarities between the earliest assem-
blages (Fig. 6). In both sites, and in the early component of Baño Nuevo
1, higher raw material diversity, including fine-grained siliceous tool
8
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
stones, is recorded beginning with the onset of the Holocene. This is ca
500 years after the first occupations recorded at Cueva de la Vieja and
at El Chueco 1 (Méndez et al., 2018a). A wider variety of stone raw
materials in the early Holocene covaries with more elaborate tool types
in all sites, for example the occurrence of retouched blades and for-
malized endscrapers (García, 2007; Méndez et al., 2011).
Various behavioral inferences have been made based on the pre-
sence of exotic obsidians from extra-Andean steppes in these sites,
which always occur in very low frequencies. Though obsidian from
Pampa del Asador occurs as early as 12,100 cal BP in the Cerro Tres
Tetas site, this site is located ca. 200 km east from the source (Stern,
2018). The most general of inferences for Central Western Patagonia is
that this tool stone appears only in early Holocene levels, approxi-
mately two millennia after the first human presence and after mobility
routes to key sources were already in use (Méndez et al., 2012). The
first evidence of Pampa del Asador (PDA1 type) obsidian, which ac-
counts for most of the cases, is recorded at levels between 10,700 and
9900 cal BP in Baño Nuevo 1 and in 10,200 cal BP at El Chueco 1. Less
common subtypes (PDA3ab) also occur in Baño Nuevo 1 as early as
10,300 cal BP, suggesting no specific procurement constraints when
choosing between different geochemical subtypes of this source. Re-
markably, early Holocene evidence at the El Chueco 1 site indicates
Pampa del Asador obsidian appears alongside Telsen/Sierra Negra ob-
sidian from Meseta de Somuncura in the same levels (Méndez et al.,
2012). Their co-occurrence implies the superposition of long transport
routes at this time because the Pampa del Asador source is located ca.
370 linear km to the south and Telsen/Sierra Negra is ca. 445 linear km
northeast (Fig. 1), further suggesting mechanisms other than direct
procurement in these broad ranges (Méndez et al., 2018b). Sites in the
vicinity such as Casa de Piedra Roselló have produced obsidian artifacts
in all layers, particularly those levels with higher depositional rates
(Castro Esnal et al., 2017). These high-quality obsidians were superior
to the only local-brittle obsidian from the Cisnes river headwaters area
(Méndez et al., 2012). This Cisnes tool stone appears in the mid-Holo-
cene levels in El Chueco 1, but it has been acknowledged in more-dis-
tant areas as early as the 9400 and 8500 cal BP level of the Cueva de la
Vieja site in Ñirehuao (Méndez et al., 2018b) and in the 8500 cal BP
layers at Casa de Piedra Roselló (Castro Esnal et al., 2017). This evi-
dence indicates that local circuits (< 80 km) of people and goods op-
erated in the north of Central Western Patagonia by the early Holocene.
5.4. Subsistence and diets: faunas, plants and stable isotopes
The case for human and megafauna coexistence and interaction in
Central Western Patagonia is not sustained. There is a 900-year time
gap between the last dated megafauna remains and the first recorded
human presence (Fig. 2). This pattern is especially evident in the
neighboring occupations at the Cerro Casa de Piedra sites, where in-
teraction with megafauna cannot be suggested (Borrero, 2009). In all
anthropogenic deposits, guanaco dominates the faunal assemblages, as
in the case of Baño Nuevo 1 where there is a minimal presence of
huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) and other resources, such as canids and
birds (Trejo and Jackson, 1998; Mena et al., 2000; Velásquez and Mena,
2006; Mena, 2009). There are no faunal remains at El Chueco 1 or at
Cueva de la Vieja at levels of this age. However, it is remarkable that
precisely in the early Holocene levels of the latter, micromorphological
thin sections indicate the presence of bone fragments, ca. 5% burnt,
associated with charcoal and lithics (Méndez et al., 2018a). This in-
dication suggests that we should expect potential for prey processing
even in the smallest caves, although such might not be visible through
traditional excavation methods. In younger, mid-to-late Holocene levels
in El Chueco 1, guanaco largely dominates the assemblages (Méndez
et al., 2011). At Baño Nuevo 1, guanaco also dominates throughout the
Holocene deposits, and in the early Holocene component, a few ver-
tebral bones of one huemul were recovered (Velásquez and Mena,
2006). This prey appears primarily after the mid-Holocene in the
L.A. Borrero et al.
Fig. 4. Stratigraphic south cross-section of Cueva de la Vieja site showing stratigraphic units (SU) and the chronological time span represented in SU2, the one with
human occupations.
region, particularly at forest sites (e.g., Mena et al., 2004).
The dominant role of guanaco outlined by faunal remains, however,
has been contended with the interpretation of diets based on the stable
isotope information produced by analyses of the human skeletal record
of the Baño Nuevo 1 site (Reyes et al., 2012). The distance between
δ15N values of the human sample and local faunal resources indicates
protein in the diet could be better explained by a combination of broad-
spectrum prey, such as small carnivores and birds, along with the
consumption of guanaco, whereas forest prey (i.e., huemul) made al-
most no contribution (Méndez et al., 2014). This perspective agrees
with the recurrent finding of various extinct and extant canids in this
site, and with the presence of mid-sized birds such as Chloephaga picta,
C. poliocephala, and Anas georgica in the early Holocene component
(Trejo and Jackson, 1998; Mena, 2009).
Plant exploitation of Central Western Patagonia has been only re-
cently discussed (Belmar et al., 2017). Considering that wind may in-
troduce uncharred plant remains into caves, only charred remains and
mainly those recovered from hearths, are considered potential in-
dicators of anthropogenic plant management. Carpological remains
from the earliest occupations at El Chueco 1 are very few (N = 27),
mostly unidentified, and consist of the herbaceous taxa Galium sp. and
Limiaceae (Belmar et al., 2017). The early Holocene deposits at Cueva
de La Vieja (N = 6) yielded herbaceous taxa Amaranthaceae, Lamia-
ceae, and Poaceae (Méndez et al., 2018a). The early Holocene carpo-
logical assemblage of Baño Nuevo 1 is far higher in terms of frequency
(N = 278) and density, dominated by herbaceous taxa such as Cheno-
podiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Poaceae and complemented with shrubs
such as Berberis sp., Ericaeae and Rubus sp. (Belmar et al., 2017). Taxa
such as Galium sp. and Lamiaceae are currently absent of the immediate
environs of the sites, but they are common to steppe plant communities
(Luebert and Pliscoff, 2006). Remains from plants of extensive dis-
tribution dominate the record, except for Baño Nuevo 1, where plants of
restricted distribution occur as well; thus, supporting their anthro-
pogenic incorporation into the archaeological record (Belmar et al.,
2017). Several of these taxa were potentially used for food and certainly
as fuel, given its charred occurrence (Belmar et al., 2017; Méndez et al.,
2018a). The analyzed remains also suggest the selection of common
taxa throughout the sites, as well as an increased plant use in time
(Fig. 5). In a recent study, C. Belmar identified the presence of micro-
fossils on the edges of most of a subsample of artifacts from the early
component of Baño Nuevo 1, the most relevant being the presence of
phytoliths and starch grains of herbaceous plants and of shrubs
(Belmar, 2019). In the same study, the tooth calculus of four individuals
9
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
was analyzed and indicated evidence of starch and phytoliths (Belmar,
2019). Overall, novel data on plant processing and consumption em-
phasize the important role that gathering plant resources might have
had among the earliest people in the region, activity possibly embedded
with performing other tasks (Belmar et al., 2017).
6. Discussion
Given the human pulses observed by Méndez et al. (2016a, 2018a),
the case of Central Western Patagonia demonstrates that colonization is
not necessarily a rapid or continuous event but rather a complex pro-
cess involving potential lags or even failures (Méndez, 2013). Initially,
there is a time lag of more than 1000 years for the exploration/colo-
nization of Central Western Patagonia when comparing the earliest
dates close to the eastern slope of the Andes (i.e., Aisén, Chile) with
those at far eastern, extra-Andean positions (i.e., Santa Cruz, Argentina;
Méndez et al., 2018a). This lag most likely resulted from a ranking of
the available habitats, in which the eastern steppes of the Deseado
Massif (Santa Cruz, Argentina) ranked higher than did the forest-steppe
ecotones, most likely ecosystems in early stages of development after
the ice retreat.
The origin of the first explorers of Central Western Patagonia is
difficult to assess, but the current distribution of earliest occupation
dates in Patagonia and the high visibility of the early archaeological
record indicate that the Deseado Massif is a likely source (Fig. 1).
Dispersal toward the west implied an adaptation to a different topo-
graphy, flora, seasonality and precipitation regime. It also implied
changes in the stability of resources, or in what is called limitational
knowledge. The range expansion capabilities of potential explorers
from the Deseado Massif were adequate because essentially the same
resources exploited were implicated along the way. The case of the La
Gruta site, located in the southern edge of the Massif, is significant
because logistical occupations were inferred for the period from
10,850–10,480 cal BP, “a time at which radiation was actively taking
place” (Franco et al., 2012: 161). The ranking of habitats also matters.
Circulation between lower quality habitats generally results in longer
distances traveled, whereas high-quality habitats resulted in people
settling (Anderson and Gillam, 2000; Amick, 2017: 132). The former is
usually solved via long-distance logistical movements (Lovis et al.,
2005).
A process of (complete-radius) leap-frogging advance is adequate in
Patagonia given the high homogeneity of the eastern habitats, but once
people reached the western fringes, ecological differences were too
L.A. Borrero et al.
Fig. 5. Graphic summary of the archaeological assemblages of Cueva de la Vieja and El Chueco 1 sites partitioned by chronological components (after Belmar et al.,
2017; Méndez et al., 2016, 2018a).
overwhelming. Glaciers and proglacial lakes had been absent for ap-
proximately one millennium by the time the first explorers entered the
area, and landscapes experienced major ecological transformations (de
Porras et al., 2012; García et al., 2018; Mendelova et al., 2017). The
pace of exploration had to change accordingly (e.g., Woodman, 2016),
and displacement most likely changed into some variant of half-radius
mode, better suited for unknown lands (Binford, 1982). Recently de-
glaciated areas and periglacial environments are challenging (Borrero,
2012; Rademaker et al., 2014). Remnants of glacial ice in the moun-
tains, recently drained proglacial lakes and marshes were potential
inhibitors for the use of sectors of Central Western Patagonia, particu-
larly in the highlands. Andean valleys can be considered geographical
dead ends to the dispersal of populations from the east (Borrero, 2004).
The limited ethnographic information concerning movement into
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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
new lands shows that this process is usually gradual and is most likely
one in which “some former behaviors and institutions are retained long
after new strategies are developed” (Jarvenpa and Brumbach, 2016:
35). However, this process is also one in which new tools responding to
new necessities can be incorporated as people entered new lands, as
observed for example with the earliest ground-edge axes of Sahul
(Hiscock et al., 2016) or in the Japanese islands (Takashi, 2012). Large
expedient versatile flake tools on local raw materials might have served
a variety of purposes besides prey butchering. Similarly, short-lived
tools on local raw materials have been recorded not only in the basal
levels of sites in Central Western Patagonia (Méndez et al., 2011,
2018a; Nami and Civalero, 2017) but also at eastern potentially con-
nected locations such as Alero Dasovich (Aguerre et al., 2017).
Knowledge about the location of places such as sources of specific
L.A. Borrero et al. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16

Table 2
Frequency of lithic classes from the early levels of El Chueco 1 and Cueva de la Vieja sites, partitioned by chronological components (after Méndez et al. 2011,
2018a).
Sites El Chueco 1 Cueva de la Vieja

Age range (cal BP) 9230-≥7700 10,180–9890 11,500 9390–8470 11,900–10,590

Lithic classes All All All Valid Fragments Valid Fragments
Nodule 0 2 0 5 2 6 0
Core 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Unintentional by-product 0 0 0 2 5 3 4
Hammer stone 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Pebble 0 0 0 4 1 0 0
Core flake 0 4 0 10 5 5 0
Debitage/retouch debris 11 0 1 76 49 33 19
Bifacial thinning flake 0 0 0 11 2 12 2
Retouched flake/blade 0 2 0 0 3 2 1
Scraper 0 1 0 1
Sidescraper 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Bifacial fragment 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Undetermined 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Total 11 9 2 110 70 62 29

Note: Valid pieces include complete and proximal fragments.

Fig. 6. Selected lithic tools from the earliest assemblages of Cueva de la Vieja (a–b) and El Chueco 1 (c); (a) scraper (basalt, same nodule as b), (b) sidescraper (c)
retouched flake with multiple retouched edges (andesite).

raw materials is usually the result of locational learning and is con-
sidered easy to acquire (Rockman, 2009). The local evidence is mostly
related to obsidians from different sources (Méndez et al., 2018b). The
PDA obsidian, being an extensive source (Espinosa and Goñi, 1999;
Stern, 2018), was most likely discovered relatively easily by hunter-
gatherers first sweeping the region; however, no early dates have been
obtained within the area of its highest occurrence (Goñi et al., 2011).
Lower-altitude dispersions of chemically undistinguishable obsidian
from PDA have been argued as potential sources for the earliest ex-
ploitation of this tool stone (Belardi et al., 2006; Franco et al., 2017). As
already mentioned, two obsidian debitage specimens from El Chueco 1
occur in the same level but come from widely separated sources, thus
implying wide ranges, the overlap of different home ranges, or wide-
spread interactions as early as 10,000 cal BP. The presence of exotic
rocks indicates ample knowledge of the territory or visiting people from
far away. Regardless, this evidence is not concordant with exploration
but with a colonization stage in which people – whether for the short or
long term – were already settled. Their presence is difficult to explain
by exchange alone. Deposition of exotic items can also be the result of
fluid band membership, with transient members from distant places
depositing goods in low frequencies (Pallo and Borrero, 2015). This
process occurs for all obsidians in the Cisnes valley, given that their

11
L.A. Borrero et al.
proportion is less than 1% of the studied assemblages (Méndez et al.,
2018b).
Site planning is expected for situations in which territorial organi-
zation is already occurring (Chatters, 1987). Features under these
conditions are expected to show spatial congruence over time
(Wandsnider, 1996; Figuerero Torres, 2000). Site planning should not
be a prominent property of exploration. Hearth features in the early
record of Central Western Patagonia are simple, show limited planning
and were not used over long periods. Thus, evidence points to transient,
short-span occupations, which is further in agreement with the asso-
ciated lithic assemblages.
Abandonment of the dead without burial has been suggested as a
possibility for the initial human entry to new lands, thus accounting for
the paucity of human remains in the early archaeological record
(Dillehay, 1997). The exploration of new landscapes must have been
stressful, perhaps with little room for sophisticated mortuary treatment.
In fact, sophisticated treatment of the dead is remarkably early in South
America and is no earlier than the mid-Holocene (e.g., Chinchorro
Culture; Arriaza and Standen, 2008). Cremation might also have been
an alternative (Dillehay, 1997), but it is a costly procedure that only
rarely is complete, and intense burning will promote bone survival. The
problem of the disposal of the corpses can be exacerbated in winter
when burial is almost impossible at this latitude. There is supporting
ethnographic evidence for direct abandonment of the dead. For ex-
ample, Murdoch (1892) and Nelson (1983 [1899]) observed the
abandonment of bodies in the open under cold conditions. The ex-
istence of several archaeological cases of human remains without
mortuary treatment is relevant (Lepper, 2014: 16; Reyes et al., 2015)
and is most likely an expected deposition mode during exploration and
early colonization. Interestingly, Baño Nuevo 1 shows that this is not
the only mode; early formal burial of the dead occasionally occurs. In
fact, Mena and Stafford (2006) have suggested the possibility that the
treatment of the dead in Baño Nuevo 1 does not correspond to the in-
itial explorers of Central Western Patagonia but rather can be asso-
ciated with a later colonizing stage (sensu Borrero, 1989-90), which
agrees with current available dates for the valley and the region.
Traditionally, late Pleistocene dispersals have been associated with
megafauna hunting in both North and South America (Haynes, 1969,
Araujo et al., 2017). However, an examination of bone frequencies in
early assemblages of Patagonia favors camelids over extinct taxa
(Borrero and Franco, 1997). Despite the absence of faunal remains in
various sites of Central Western Patagonia, diet reconstruction of the
Baño Nuevo 1 individuals points toward broad-spectrum diets, in-
cluding possibly the consumption of small mammals and birds, which
agrees with bone assemblages at the same site (Méndez et al., 2014).
Such a picture is consistent with the idea that broad-spectrum sub-
sistence practices in South America were more common than previously
noted (Borrero, 2006).
As previously mentioned, focal resources can be difficult to find.
Ubiquitous resources, conversely, are easier to locate and thus expected
to be incorporated in exploratory situations. Charred plant remains in
the sites herein discussed show a dominance of widely distributed
herbaceous taxa most likely gathered within an embedded strategy
(Belmar et al., 2017). Their charred occurrence might be due to survival
factors, but it also suggests that plants were crucial as fuel. Fuel is
critical in plateaus or under cold conditions, and its management can
include planning or innovative solutions (Rhode et al., 2003; Joly et al.,
2005; Pasqualini et al., 2016). Climate conditions in recently degla-
ciated areas of the eastern Andes might have required some degree of
anticipation or limiting movements on a seasonal basis.
In summary, the sequences at El Chueco 1 and Cueva de la Vieja do
not display sustained increases in the abundance of artifacts through
time. The same can be expressed by analyzing artifact distribution at
Casa de Piedra Roselló (Castro Esnal et al., 2017), suggesting that this is
indeed a regional pattern. After initial occupations at sites in Central
Western Patagonia, human presence cannot be described as gaining
12
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
intensity or continuity but rather as punctuated with occasional aban-
donment periods. This situation differs significantly from other long
sequences recorded in Patagonia, such as the sites from Río Pinturas
and Perito Moreno National Park (Gradin et al., 1979; Civalero and
Franco, 2003). The difference could simply be functional, but it could
also be a measure of failure.
Another case of exploration in this region can be discussed for the
first occupations of forests. The few differences present in these new
habitats, with prey such as huemul and pudu (Pudu pudu) and perhaps
useful plants such as Chusquea, were among the few novelties once
people reached the west. None of them appears to have been suffi-
ciently important to justify a difference leading to significant techno-
logical innovations. The geographic novelties were only open possibi-
lities. Sites such as Las Quemas rockshelter, Punta del Monte, Las
Guanacas, and Fontana rockshelter all indicate middle Holocene ages
(Mena, 1983; Mena et al., 2004; Nuevo Delaunay et al., 2013; Méndez
et al., 2016b). The exploration of these new lands was most likely based
on more-redundant and perhaps even more stable occupations to the
east of the Andes (Méndez et al., 2016a). As far as we know, the only
novelty that could have been significant, access to the coast, was not
attained because there is no evidence for interaction with people from
the archipelagos (Méndez and Reyes, 2008).
7. Conclusions
Archaeological data herein discussed in the frame of historical and
ethnographical selected examples suggest that the late Pleistocene
peopling of Central Western Patagonia constitutes a defendable case of
exploration of a new land. Thus, it has wider implications for the un-
derstanding of the archaeological correlates of exploration as a global
process. We introduced the question of whether the record in hand was
in fact the result of exploration and not the result from a low-density
archaeological record or other mimicking processes. There are reasons
why our answer is that the processes identified in this region reflects
exploration. Basically, the presence of a low-density archaeological
record is not an exclusive property of our region but characterizes the
earliest record of wider Patagonia. Accordingly, the peculiarities ob-
served in our region differ from those observed in other regions like the
Deseado Massif or the Pali-Aike Lava Field.
The valleys in the eastern fringe of the Andean massif (Central
Western Patagonia) can be considered “dead ends” in the sense that
they represent the last available dwelling spaces for demographic cores
rooted in the extra-Andean steppes of Patagonia (Borrero, 2004). A full
understanding of the initial human presence in these spaces requires
data from specific areas that are not yet completely researched. How-
ever, although what we already know of the earliest occupations in-
dicates an ephemeral human presence in different places, we still must
assess to what degree does the intensity of the human signal decrease
with distance to the source populations, altitude or other key factors. In
other words, to what extent did the attractiveness of newly available
lands overcome the eventual difficulties created by increased season-
ality, lower human density, lack of information or dead ends, inhibiting
further exploration? In fact, glaciers, abrupt topography, dense forests
and deep rivers characteristic of the Andes of Central Western Pata-
gonia represented major constraints on the movement of people living
more permanently to the east. Thus, we should consider hunter-gath-
erers of the Pleistocene Holocene transition as “stepping through” this
region, moving out of some eastern occupational node, and most likely
sacrificing security in exchange for unoccupied land. Like open and
attractive terrain, differential distribution of resources creates condi-
tions for rapid travel, which was also facilitated by the exploitation of
similar subsistence resources. Such swift traversing is visible in the
archaeological record through indicators attributed to short-span oc-
cupation of cave sites, namely few lithic artifacts, the exploitation of
local tool stones, short-lived utensils, and small single-use hearths. It
was expected that once the western reaches of Central Patagonia were
L.A. Borrero et al.
in sight, human presence was neither massive nor concentrated. Indeed,
a spatially and temporally discontinuous human signature is indicated,
which can be considered the most probable result of the relatively
asymmetrical slow dispersal process. Climate conditions in this region
were most likely harsher than today’s, with glaciers above 1000 masl
still present during the early Holocene (McCulloch et al., 2017), thus in
agreement with the current evidence of these visits occurring during the
summer season in valleys such as Cisnes or Ñirehuao. Also, some cat-
astrophic events like glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) exceeding the
release of 140 km3 of freshwater through the Baker river, have been
acknowledged as a major landscape transformation source occurring
during the early Holocene (Thorndycraft et al., 2019). Minimally, dif-
ferences in geography, group size and connectivity with the eastern
nodes produced variation in the success or failure of human installation
and continuity.
Human beings entered these habitats not as mere occupants, but
they left subtle traces of their presence. Certainly, the fauna and flora
were exploited, but such was a low-impact trace given their small
numbers, as is suggested by several lines of evidence. However, char-
coal particles recorded at sedimentary sequences, such as the one from
El Shaman Lake, display an increase in local wildfires by the time
human occupations began in the Cisnes valley, despite the earlier
availability of burnable fuel (Méndez et al., 2016a). Hence, it is rea-
sonable to ask whether these wildfires were part of the pioneering
signal across broader Western Patagonia (Holz et al., 2016). In any case,
traces began to be more patent only after exploration led to a more-
redundant presence. The early Holocene record shows not only a spike
in the radiocarbon signature across the landscape but also higher de-
position frequencies of bone and lithic material, and a spike in charcoal
in various sites (Markgraf et al., 2007, Méndez et al., 2016a). The re-
current presence of obsidian brought from distances exceeding 300 km
suggests alternative social scenarios for the limited circulation of high-
quality exotic rocks, which competed to some degree with the use of
local rocks. The role of plants in hunter-gatherer subsistence is one
recently explored possibility, given the primordial role assigned to the
exploitation of animals. This alternative makes sense for populations
that do not appear to have interacted significantly with megafauna and
instead are characterized as broad-spectrum foragers. The very slow
incorporation of forest resources, such as cervids, which do not appear
to have been important for the individuals buried in Baño Nuevo 1, is
also relevant. Human remains at this site represent various ages and
both genders buried within the same cave in what appears to be a
“single” event. The organization of intra-site space – including the de-
position of the dead – is another marker of the low intensity of re-
sidential use of the initial occupations. The selection of fuel for hearths
in relation to their local availability should be explored in more depth
because of its potential to indicate the conditions for human installation
along some routes, articulating mobility. These markers are manifested
in sites of Central Western Patagonia some variable time after the
earliest occupational levels. The extent of the lags recorded between the
first occupations and the time when some degree of planned use of
space is in evidence, is most likely related to the failure or success of
including different zones in the mobility circuits. Even the most suc-
cessful colonization processes include failures, a situation related to the
fact that adaptations are costly. Finally, considering that dispersal is a
protracted process, it is expected that innovations, if present at all,
occurred very late in time. Both behavioral and technological innova-
tions should be considered, and as much as the changes associated with
dispersal continuously challenge organizational rules, most likely re-
quiring archaeologically difficult-to-trace behavioral changes, other
changes might be more visible.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank several colleagues that over the years have
collaborated in our research, particularly Omar Reyes, Carolina Belmar,
13
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54 (2019) 1–16
and Analía Castro Esnal. Claudio Bariggi, Robinson Palma and Freddy
Boldt are acknowledged for granting permissions for our archaeological
research at Estancia Baño Nuevo and Stephanie Buckaert for granting
permissions at Estancia Río Cisnes. Paulina Chávez draw Fig. 6.
Funding
This study was funded by CONICYT through FONDECYT grant
#1180306, MEC PAI80160111 (Universidad Alberto Hurtado,
Universidad de Magallanes, Universidad de Tarapacá) and Programa
FONDECYT Regional R17A10002.
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2019.02.001.
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