Mid-Holocene paleoenvironments and the archeological record of southern Mendoza, Argentina

The environmental heterogeneity of southern Mendoza led to different environmental responses during the mid-Holocene. More arid conditions and perhaps higher temperatures were dominant in the lowlands, while the high Andes experienced increased snowfalls and neoglacial readvances from ca 6000 to 4000 years BP. The opposing climate pattern of the region in comparison with the western Pacific foothills of the Andes is apparently related to the different influences exerted by the Westerlies on both sides of the Cordillera. The archeological record of this time period is represented by very few sites with a low density of material. Both the temporal distribution of the radiocarbon dates and the occupation index suggest a significant decrease of human occupations manifested by a chronological hiatus which varies in timing and duration according to the areal scale of analysis. The coincidence of the occupational hiatus and the low amount of archeological evidences would point to abandonment and/or a change related to a low intensity pattern of land use across the region. These human responses seem to parallel the general arid climatic conditions of the mid-Holocene although more detailed information and particularly numerical dates are needed to test the hypothesis. Site formation processes, including site disturbance produced by later human occupations are alternative explanations also evaluated to give account of the archeological record.