UC Merced

The San Pedro de Atacama oases have been permanently occupied since ca. 2500 B.P. and over this time developed a rich culture that was intertwined with social developments in the south-central Andes. However, despite decades of archaeological research, the region still lacks a strong chronological framework based on absolute dates. Here we present 53 new AMS ,14C dates from osteological remains from San Pedro de Atacama, in order to contribute to an understanding of the Atacameno cultural sequence. These dates suggest that some cemeteries were occupied for long periods, frequently transcending cultural phases, and that in fact a number of cemeteries within the same ayllu were in use concurrently. We also show that, not surprisingly, population displacement through time primarily follows oscillations in the sources of water. The new information presented here suggests that future work in the region should emphasize detailed analyses that consider intra-ayllu variability, given that diversity within periods is masked by the uniform use of cultural phases to describe human development. © 2013 by the Society for American Archaeology.