Abstract

GILIO, Brenda L.; FRANCO, Nora V.; FIORE, Danae  and  VETRISANO, Lucas. HUMAN CIRCULATION MODELS IN THE NORTHERN BANK OF THE SANTA CRUZ RIVER AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH NORTHWESTERN SPACES (SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA). Comechingonia [online]. 2021, vol.25, n.3, pp.21-30. ISSN 1851-0027.

The archaeological signal of occupation of the canyons in the northern bank of the Santa Cruz River is more abundant during the Late Holocene. The similarities in rock art motifs and techniques with sites located to the northwest of this region, together with the presence of black obsidian artifacts, whose potential sources are to the North and the synchrony in the dates have led different researchers to propose the complementary use of these spaces. On the other hand, the archaeological record of the canyons on the northern bank of the Santa Cruz River shows that there are variations in rock art motifs and techniques between the easternmost and westernmost canyons.The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible routes of circulation that the hunter-gatherer groups who inhabited these canyons could have used. To do this, seasonal accessibility models are generated between sites located in these canyons and between them and sites located towards the northwest, with which they share chronologies, engraved footprint motifs and black obsidian artifacts. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to model winter and summer least cost paths. The results suggest that some sectors of the middle course of the Chalía River would have been relevant for circulation and that the archaeological record of the Santa Cruz River was not, for the most part, linked to the circulation between these spaces.

Keywords : hunter-gatherers; Northern bank of the Santa Cruz River; Late Holocene; Geographic Information Systems.

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