Paleoenvironments in the Paso Otero locality during Late Pleistocene-Holocene (Pampean region, Argentina): An interdisciplinary approach

The recently excavated Paso Otero 4 site is located within the Paso Otero archaeological locality (Necochea District, Pampean Region). The site is characterized by the presence of a great variety of archaeological materials and a rich and complex stratigraphic record which allows use of an interdisciplinary approach. The objective of this paper is to present the results of the geoarchaeological, palynological, phytolith, and diatom analyses in order to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions for the final Late Pleistocene through Holocene. These lines of research allow inference of paleoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions on both local and regional scales. At the site, the Río Salado Member (Unit 2), where the archaeological deposit is buried, underwent sudden and fluctuating changes in water availability conditions, although the setting was basically characterized by calm depositional processes within and along the margins of interconnected lagoons. Paleoclimatic reconstructions indicate the existence of abrupt climatic changes throughout the sequence. Early Holocene human occupations took place under regionally temperate-warm climates while the end of the Middle Holocene witnessed cold and arid or cold temperate climates. In general terms, paleoenvironmental conditions inferred for Paso Otero 4 are in accordance with regional reconstructions proposed for the Pampas.