From Rock Art Emergence to a Persistent Landscape: a long term history of the hunter-gatherers of the southern Andes (12.000 to 500 cal b.p.)

Abstract: Hunter-gatherer archaeology in the Andes has been centred on understanding their "complexity process", exemplified by the peopling of high-altitude environments or the domestication of plants and animals. However, this situation is absent in many regions of the Andes, particularly in the Southern Andes. In this talk, we explore the long-term history of hunter-gatherer groups in the central north of Chile, covering a time period between 12.000 to 500 cal bp, remarking two main social processes: the emergence of rock painting around 5.000 cal b.p. and the conformation of a persistent hunter-gatherer landscape in the region. Our results emphasise the relevance of understanding the local histories of hunter-gatherers in the Andes, as well as the existence of these groups during the Late periods of Andean Prehistory.