Abstract

MARSH, Erik J. The date of the earliest pottery in the Southern Andes: a macro-regional perspective based on bayesian models. Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2017, vol.10, suppl.1, pp.83-94. ISSN 1852-060X.

The earliest pottery marks a milestone in the human history of the southern Andes. This paper proposes an approximation of the date of the earliest pottery using Bayesian chronological models. Models of 84 radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates from 49 sites are compared among five areas in Argentina (the provinces of San Juan and Mendoza) and Chile (the semi-arid north, central, and south central). Although there are still few data, they show an intriguing pattern of very similar dates with medians between 2100-2180 cal BP (2250-1920, 68% probability, starting boundaries) in four of the areas, though some error ranges are large. The similarity of the dates is striking considering that the macro-region extends over one thousand kilometers (north-south) from 30° to 39°S and includes a diverse range of environments. The contemporaneity is even more notable because these areas include the continent's southern limit of agriculture. It is hoped this will encourage researchers to more carefully assess this period when excavating and dating relevant contexts as well as encourage discussions on the nature of the initial adoption of ceramics in the southern Andes.

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