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Human Occupation Chronologies Modeled by Geomorphological Factors: A Case Study from the Atlantic Coast of Northern Patagonia (Argentina)

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Advances in Coastal Geoarchaeology in Latin America

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

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Abstract

Radiocarbon chronologies obtained in a dynamic landscape such as the Atlantic Ocean coast provide valuable information about the different stages of their use, but they also reflect inevitable biases, many of which are linked to geomorphological factors. The study of these factors and their changes over time becomes an indispensable task in which geoarchaeology plays an important role. In this paper, the Atlantic coast of Northern Patagonia (San Matías Gulf, Argentina) is presented as a case study. Here, the erosion of coastal landforms eliminated archaeological sites of Middle Holocene age and the unequal development of aeolian deposits affected its temporal representation at the regional scale. Both phenomena are linked to coastal dynamics and relative changes in sea level. Other environmental factors are also shown to reduce the evidence available from rockshelters in the area for chronology building. Thus, geomorphological dynamics expressed in different types of discontinuities have produced biases that affect the chronologies obtained for the human occupation of this region.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Professor Hugo Inda Ferrero and Professor Felipe García-Rodríguez (editors) for its important role in the publication of this special volume. I also thank Richard Lunnis and Daniel Rafuse for the English revision of the manuscript. This research was funded by grants from the CONICET (National Research Council of Argentina, PIP 00756 and 00589 projects) and ANPCyT (National Agency for Science and Technology of Argentina, PICT 2013 1128).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Arqueología, INCUAPA – CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la provincia de Buenos Aires (UNICEN), Av. Del Valle 5737, B7400JWI, Olavarría, Argentina

    Cristian M. Favier Dubois

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  1. Cristian M. Favier Dubois
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Correspondence to Cristian M. Favier Dubois .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Universitario Regional del Este, Universidad de la República, Rocha, Uruguay

    Hugo Inda Ferrero

  2. Centro Universitario Regional del Este, Universidad de la República, Rocha, Uruguay

    Felipe García Rodríguez

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Favier Dubois, C.M. (2019). Human Occupation Chronologies Modeled by Geomorphological Factors: A Case Study from the Atlantic Coast of Northern Patagonia (Argentina). In: Inda Ferrero, H., García Rodríguez, F. (eds) Advances in Coastal Geoarchaeology in Latin America. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17828-4_1

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