César Méndez

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile | UC · Escuela de Antropología

Marine resources provide a baseline for understanding the sociohistorical trajectories of Andean societies using Pacific coastal environments. This study examines seashell distributions in northern Chile’s semiarid region, revealing inland circulation patterns established over twelve thousand years. This included an extensive review of published in...

The exchange of information and social interactions on broad spatial scales between human groups in the past can be studied through the provenance of key indicators of distant origin recorded at archaeological sites. The remains of shells of mollusk species, especially when crafted as elements of personal ornaments, express aspects of the behaviors...

El presente trabajo expone los resultados del análisis y caracterización individual de los restos bioantropológicos correspondientes a un rescate arqueológico realizado en el año 2019 en el sector La Cordonada, comuna de Coyhaique, región de Aysén, Chile. Este estudio comprende observaciones macroscópicas y caracterización bioantropológica de un in...

The Baño Nuevo 1 site, a cave with paleontological and archaeological deposits located in the eastern steppes of Central West Patagonia, provides a uniquely dry environment that allowed the survival of organic materials that are not common in excavated sites in the region. The remains include paleontological evidence from the late Pleistocene depos...

We examine the long-term changes in vegetation structure and wildfires regimes at the westernmost part of the Cisnes river basin (Aysén region) in the Chilean Patagonia (44°S, 72°W). Previous studies within this basin have accounted for millennial shifts in glacier, vegetation and fire dynamics at its middle and easternmost portions. Here, we prese...

Holocene environmental changes in Patagonia were mostly shaped by fluctuating ice cover recession. Consequently, environmental reconstructions are largely based on discontinuous moraine chronologies from valley deposits. Here, we present a 3 m long continuous sediment record recovered from Laguna Meseta (LME), a lake located on Meseta Chile Chico....

El poblamiento inicial del suroeste de Sudamérica puede ser estudiado concibiendo a los Andes como un eje geográfico que delimita un corredor a través del cual ocurrió la dispersión de los cazadores-recolectores durante el Pleistoceno final. Este examen es útil para reconocer patrones comunes y diferencias regionales que indican que tan temprano y...

The Pacific coast of the Southern Andes has a long occupational history that shows regional diversification by the Middle and Late Holocene. The coast of north-central Chile had a significant hunter-gatherer occupation between cal 6000 and 2000 BP, which differs from those observed in neighboring areas because of their envionmental and historic cha...

The Museo Regional de Aysén curates among its collections the remains recovered from the excavations carried out at the Baño Nuevo 1 site, a cave with paleontological and archaeological deposits located in the eastern steppes of Aysén. The isolation inside this volcanic bubble produced a uniquely dry environment which allowed the survival of organi...

RESUMEN Una comprensión cabal de las tendencias espaciales del arte rupestre a escala regional requiere un apropiado manejo de la información, la cual no siempre es equivalente en calidad o detalle. Fruto del trabajo de distintos equipos de investigación a través del tiempo y con el uso de distintas metodologías es esperable que áreas amplias osten...

Holocene environmental changes in Patagonia were mostly shaped by unsteady ice-cover recession. Consequently, environmental reconstructions are largely based on discontinuous moraine chronologies from valley deposits. Here, we present a 3 m-long continuous sediment record recovered from Laguna Meseta (LME), a lake located on Meseta Chile Chico. Its...

Regions with low population density, which are geographically marginal with respect to the most frequently occupied areas, are theoretically more prone to discontinuities in human occupation. This is the case in Central-West Patagonia (Chile, South America), where the discontinuities have had different characteristics and extents, some even lasting...

Tackling the early Holocene record in Patagonia; implications from the Doble Lili rockshelter’s archaeological context and assemblages. The early Holocene archaeological record in Patagonia has always been elusive. It is often recorded as layers within multicomponent cave sites where archaeological and natural materials accumulate. However ordered...

Considering rock art as the result of human labour in a region, we discuss how the intensity of rock art intervention can be used as a proxy for understanding the human use of space in valleys of north-central Chile. This region has a long sequence of rock art production , ranging from the beginning of the late Holocene until the 18th century. Our...

Considering rock art as the result of human labour in a region, we discuss how the intensity of rock art intervention can be used as a proxy for understanding the human use of space in valleys of north-central Chile. This region has a long sequence of rock art production , ranging from the beginning of the late Holocene until the 18th century. Our...

A comprehensive understanding of the spatial trends of rock art on a regional scale requires an appropriate management of information which is not always equivalent in quality or detail. As a result of the work of different research teams through time and with the use of different methodologies it is expected that large areas will present a high de...

We examine the temporal and spatial structure of wildfires and rates of vegetation change in the Pacific sector of northwestern Patagonia (40°-44°S) over the last ~18,000 years. Macroscopic Charcoal Accumulation Rates (CHAR), a proxy of past local fires, shows a geographic variation that mirrors the modern north-to-south and low-to-high elevation i...

We examine the temporal and spatial structure of wildfires and rates of vegetation change in the Pacific sector of northwestern Patagonia (40°-44° S) over the last ~18,000 years. Macroscopic Charcoal Accumulation Rates (CHAR), a proxy of past local fires, shows a geographic variation that mirrors the modern north-to-south and low-to-high elevation...

Understanding the use of natural corridors is critical for characterizing the past use of marginally occupied landscapes at the Andean fringes of western Patagonia by the hunter-gatherer groups who inhabited this region. In this paper, we combine least-cost path models and archaeological surveys and excavations to determine the possible movements a...

Archaeological research on the settlement of the Patagonian archipelago in the extreme South of South America by groups of hunter-gatherers, fishers or canoeists involves both an understanding of the various modes of subsistence and the possible flows of goods and human interactions that could have occurred from the middle Holocene in this extensiv...

Deglaciation modeling of the Patagonian Ice Field since the Last Glacial Maximum has been a topic of intensive research in Central West Patagonia (44°–49°S). However, the chronology of deglaciation onset, acceleration, and the subsequent thinning and recession of the different ice lobes as well as the timing and extension of large proglacial system...

Cuchipuy is an archaeological site within the ancient Laguna de Tagua Tagua area (O’Higgins Region, central Chile; known for containing the remains of extinct fauna), with evidence for cultural activity spanning most of the Holocene, including over 50 human burials. The bulk of chronometric work at Cuchipuy was carried out in the 1980s, where a dis...

Patagonia’s main circulation routes, which were located in the eastern area of this region, fostered a marginal occupation of western valleys, possibly by means of seasonal, complementary visits, resulting in less intense settlements. Luis Borrero’s conception of the occupation of “Andean dead ends” is the pivotal framework for the study of Patagon...

Over 12,000 years of shellfish consumption along the coast of Los Vilos in the semiarid region of North Central Chile are evaluated in terms of resource selectivity, gathering behaviors, settlement locations and garbage treatment. A comprehensive radiocarbon dating program in sites on the coastal margin has allowed to carefully position different a...

Coastal landscapes of the Pacific coast of South America are regarded as bountiful biomes, as they are zones on the fringes of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems. Cumulative research shows an almost uninterrupted presence of mobile hunter-fisher-gatherer communities throughout the Holocene in North-Central Chile (29°–32° S). However, local-scale...

The scarcity of middle Holocene radiocarbon dates in different regions of the Andes has been interpreted as an indicator of discontinuity in human occupations in response to adverse environmental conditions due to marked aridity. In the subtropical Andes of north-central Chile and adjacent areas, this paucity has been detected in radiocarbon ages b...

The Andes are a unique geological and biogeographic feature of South America. From the perspective of human geography, this mountain range provides ready access to highly diverse altitudinally arranged ecosystems. The combination of a geologically and ecologically diverse landscape provides an exceptional context to explore the potential of stronti...

We present isotopic and morphometric evidence suggesting the migration of farmers in the southern Andes in the period AD 1270-1420, leading up to the Inka conquest occurring ~ AD 1400. This is based on the interdisciplinary study of human remains from archaeological cemeteries in the Andean Uspallata Valley (Argentina), located in the southern fron...

A redundant use of different environment along the Cisnes river valley (44° S) of Central Western Patagonia has been observed from 3000 cal. BP onwards. This paper presents an analysis of cores and core tools from sites in the steppe, deciduous and evergreen forests to ascertain differences and similarities in knapping methods within this time fram...

Large anthropogenic ¹⁴ C datasets are widely used to generate summed probability distributions (SPDs) as a proxy for past human population levels. However, SPDs are a poor proxy when datasets are small, bearing little relationship to true population dynamics. Instead, more robust inferences can be achieved by directly modelling the population and a...

We explored the site context of a late Holocene shell midden on the coast of Los Vilos in north-central Chile (31°51′ S, South America) to better understand the spatial organization of short-term, small-sized hunter-gatherer campsites. The Dunas de Agua Amarilla (LV 007) site comprises 14 separate surf clam refuse deposits. Extensive stratigraphic...

This paper aims to develop an analytical proposal for dealing with ambiguity in lithic material of late Pleistocene contexts in alluvial locations. We focus our study on the Quebrada de Quereo site (13480-13070 cal BP) located in the coast of Northern Semiarid Chile. To build a comparative analog, different combinations of taphonomic and technologi...

From mobile hunter-gatherers to a series of state societies, Mediterranean climate regions (MED) around the world have been critical areas for human and biological evolution for millennia. Comprised of five regions on six continents, the MED are important today for human settlement, global food production, transportation, industry, and tourism, but...

¿Qué esperar de esta guía arqueológica? Esta es una guía didáctica que busca ejemplificar aspectos relevantes de la arqueología de Aisén; la que permitirá despertar el interés sobre la riqueza del pasado y valorar el patrimonio material de esta tierra. No pretende ser exhaustiva, ni académica, ya que está escrita en un lenguaje enfocado a un públi...

Sites in north-central Chile have yielded late-Pleistocene megafauna bone remains, occasionally associated with human-made artifacts. However, little is known about the depositional characteristics, the conditions that allow their preservation, and how to identify recurrences facilitating their discovery. This work presents contextual and stratigra...

Un programa sistemático de fechados radiocarbónicos en el archipiélago de los Chonos, en los canales noroccidentales de Patagonia, nos permite conocer mejor la ocupación de este territorio por parte de cazadores recolectores marinos. Evaluamos la distribución temporal de estas ocupaciones y la dinámica del poblamiento utilizando la información cron...

Las excavaciones arqueológicas y los registros bioantropológicos realizados en el archipiélago de los Chonos (entre 43° 50’ y 46° 50’ S), a lo largo de los canales occidentales de Patagonia, permiten definir la ocupación de este sistema insular por parte de cazadores recolectores marinos desde el Holoceno medio hasta el contacto europeo. Sus conjun...

Identifying the process of initial exploration of any given area is complex in the sense that it lies in the boundary between the absence and presence of reliable anthropogenic evidence. However, how can we be certain that the data are in fact the result of exploration and not the result from a low-density archaeological record or other process tha...

This paper presents the results of the guided search of early open-air evidence framed within a program for assessing potential surfaces for human occupations during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and the early Holocene. We studied selected areas of the steppe located east of the Andes of central-western Patagonia. The new findings are surface...

Two correlated tephra deposits, each 13 cm thick in the Aisén region of southern Chile, one in a lacustrine sediment core from the Mallín el Toqui (MET) peat bog and another from a subaerial soil exposure ~10 km to the west in the Río Maniguales (RM) valley, preserve evidence for a large explosive eruption of Mentolat volcano, one of the five strat...

The procurement of high-quality lithic resources is amongst the most indicative processes of decision-making in the archaeology of early human groups peopling the Americas. Directly dated deposits from quarry workshops have been absent of the late Pleistocene record of South America. We present the results of the excavations of a high-quality trans...

Frequency of piece-plotted lithic specimens by depth from artificial datum. (PDF)

Lithic distributions per excavated unit of area X partitioned by level. (PDF)

3D reconstruction of piece-plotted specimens from area X. Vertical (depth) axis is exaggerated. (PDF)

Detailed stratigraphy of Area X at the Valiente site. (PDF)

Flake size diameter intervals per excavated level. Intervals in X axis represent 1 cm increase. (PDF)

Topographic map of the Valiente site. (PDF)

Scanning Electron Microscopy of faunal material of Area X at the Valiente site. (PDF)

Selected burnt bone remains from the Valiente site. A. left astragalus, Lycalopex griseus; B. radius, Lycalopex griseus; C. distal end of femur, Lycalopex griseus; D. vertebra fragment, Artiodactyla; E. indeterminate long bone fragment, Mammalia. (PDF)

The bioarchaeological context of Area U at the Valiente site. (PDF)

Table S2. Affinity of Early South Americans to North Americans, Related to Table S4 Representative f4-statistics on 1240K dataset of the form f4(Mbuti, Anzick-1; Early South American, Brazil_LapaDoSanto_9600BP or Late Central Andes) or f4(Mbuti, Canada_Lucier_4800BP-500BP; Brazil_LapaDoSanto_9600BP or Brazil_Laranjal_6700BP, Late or Modern Peruvia...

Table S3. Data Description, Ancient DNA Workflow, mtDNA, Radiocarbon Dates, Related to Figure 1

Table S4. f4- and f3-Statistics, Related to Figures 1, 4, 5, S5D–S5F, and S6A–S6D and Table S2

Table S1. Relatedness of Ancient to Present-Day People, Related to Figures 2, S1, and S2 f4-statistics on the Illumina dataset of the form f4(Mbuti, Test; South American 1, South American 2) where “Test” is a newly reported ancient group, “South American 1” is the population with highest affinity to Test in outgroup f3-statistics (excluding Chorot...

We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 49 individuals forming four parallel time transects in Belize, Brazil, the Central Andes, and the Southern Cone, each dating to at least ∼9,000 years ago. The common ancestral population radiated rapidly from just one of the two early branches that contributed to Native Americans today. We document two previou...

The timing, structure, and landscape change during the Patagonian Ice Sheet deglaciation remains unresolved. In this article, we provide a geomorphic, stratigraphic, and geochronological deglacial record of Río Cisnes Glacier at 44°S and also from the nearby Río Ñirehuao and Río El Toqui valleys (45°S) in Chilean Patagonia. Our ¹⁴ C, ¹⁰ Be, and opt...

New archaeological studies on South American deserts have produced a fresh perspective on the characteristics and antiquity of the first human presence in these habitats, the continuity of populations over millennia of occupations facing varying degrees of aridity and the possibilities of learning lessons from recent ways of dwelling in deserts. Th...

The chronology of over 50 tephra layers preserved in a lake sediment core from Laguna La Trapananda (LLT) in the southern portion of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone (SSVZ), Chile, is constrained by new radiocarbon age determinations, which span the period from late Pleistocene glacial retreat to the late Holocene. The tephra are correlative with...