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On the Coexistence of Man and Extinct Pleistocene Megafauna at Gruta Del Indio (Argentina)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Alejandro García*
Affiliation:
CONICET—Departamento de Historia, Facultad de Filosofía, Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Ignacio de la Roza 230 (Oeste)—5400 San Juan, Argentina. Email: alegarcia@unsj.edu.ar or agarcia@logos.uncu.edu.ar.
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Abstract

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New excavations and new 14C dates at the Gruta del Indio shelter in the central Argentinean Andes show that the dung layer of the site is much thicker towards the front of the site than near the rock wall. This yields a longer chronology for the dung deposit; thus, the upper boundary would date to about 9000 14C yr BP. The new measurements lengthen the possible time of the coexistence of man and extinct Pleistocene megafauna in the area, since ≃1400 cal yr is much longer than previously thought (Long et al. 1998). Nevertheless, coexistence does not imply interaction, which still is not evident.

Type
Archaeology
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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