rchaeological sites and fresh water runoff points at hyperarid coastal Atacama Desert
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Abstract
This paper presents the results of a research on settlement systems of pre-Columbian peoples living on a section of the coast of the Atacama Desert which lacks of river estuaries. The coastline is located in Region de Antofagasta, where over 1,000 archeological sites have been discovered. When locating those sites and setting them on a map of the aforementioned coastline, we observed that the settlements were grouped in certain areas, alternating between stretches of areas absent of any settlements. Under the assumption that the ocean’s productive potential is the same along the entire length of the coast, it would have been expected a more or less homogeneous distribution of settlements. Given the previous observation, the archaeological sites distribution was compared against other environmental parameters that may have influenced the choice of locus for these settlements. Observations ultimately stablished that placement for settlements was determined primarily by the presence of fresh water runoff points commonly known as aguadas.
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Agustin Llagostera
Doctor en Ciencias Antropológicas con especialidad en Arqueología. Ha desarrollado y publicado numerosas investigaciones en Antropología y Arqueología. Ha participado en seminarios, congresos, reuniones científicas y asistido como Profesor Invitado en universidades e instituciones chilenas y del extranjero para dar cursos, charlas y conferencias. Fue director del Museo Regional de Antofagasta
y del Instituto y Museo de la Universidad Católica del Norte en San Pedro de Atacama. Profesor en el Programa de Magister y Doctorado de la alianza Universidad Católica del Norte y Universidad de Tarapacá. Por más de 40 años se desempeñó como académico en la Universidad Católica del Norte y en la Universidad de Antofagasta. Por su trayectoria universitaria se le ha otorgado la categoría de Académico Titular.
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