A LATE ARCHAIC ENCLAVE IN THE GUALAGUALA COASTAL SPRING (ATACAMA DESERT, NORTHERN CHILE)
UN ENCLAVE ARCAICO TARDÍO EN LA AGUADA COSTERA DE GUALAGUALA (DESIERTO DE ATACAMA, NORTE DE CHILE)
Benjamín Ballester, Estefanía Vidal, Elisa Calás, Francisco Gallardo, Patricio Aguilera, Constanza Pellegrino and Alejandro Clarot
We present an initial report of recent excavations of a settlement with stone architecture near the city of Mejillones, on the Atacama Desert coast, dated to 5000 cal. BP. Through analysis of its material assemblage, we discuss the strategy of import to
the site of a production geographically extended over different environments on the littoral and the desert. This, together with
collective labor and the presence of human interments underneath the floors of the enclosures, could account for a settlement
pattern with stable residential camps. We discuss this
Tags: Hunter-gatherers, social complexity, Residential camp, sedentarization, markers