Resumen de Sitios Arqueológicos y Aguadas en la Costa Hiperárida del Desierto de Atacama
- español
En el presente trabajo se expone los resultados de una investigación en torno al sistema de asentamiento de las poblaciones precolombinas de la costa arreica (desprovisto de desembocaduras de ríos) del Desierto de Atacama, correspondiente a la Región de Antofagasta, donde se relevaron más de 1000 sitios arqueológicos. Al fijar los sitios en el mapa del mencionado litoral observamos que estos se aglutinaban en ciertos sectores alternando con espacios carentes de ellos. Dado que el potencial productivo del mar es el mismo a lo largo de todo el litoral, se esperaría que la distribución fuera más o menos homogénea a lo largo de esta franja costera. En consecuencia, se contrastó la distribución de los yacimientos arqueológicos con diferentes parámetros ambientales que pudieran haber incidido en la elección de los loci de emplazamiento. Se observó que el patrón de asentamiento estaba determinado prioritariamente por los afloramientos hídricos, conocidos como “aguadas”.
- English
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, alternatingbetween 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 distri-bution 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.
- português
ABSTRACT The present paper presents the results of research into settlement systems of pre-columbine peoples living on a section of the coast of the Atacama Desert lacking river estuaries. The coastline is located in the Region of Antofagasta where over 1000 archeological sites have been discovered. When locating those sites and setting them on a map of the aforementioned coastline, we observe that settlements were grouped in certain areas, alternating between stretches of areas absent of any settlements. Under the assumption the ocean’s productive potential is the same along the entire length of the coast, one would expect 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”.
