Sitios Arqueológicos y Aguadas en la Costa Hiperárida del Desierto de Atacama

Resumo

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”.