Abstract

UNVEILING TERRA INCOGNITA. AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEARCH OF THE FIRST HUMAN OCCUPATIONS ON PEDERNALES AND INFIELES SALT FLATS (3,000-4,000 MASL, 26°-28° S), ATACAMA REGION, CHILE. Results are presented for archaeological surveys carried out in Pedernales Salt Flat (29° 13’59’’ S-69° 07’16’’ W) and Infieles Salt Flat (29° 58’ 39’ S-69° 03’25’’ W), in the Atacama Region (Chile), located at an altitude that ranges from 3,000 to 4,000 m.a.s.l. Both surveys were carried out in areas with scarce archaeological studies but that directly connect the arid north with the semiarid. They are part of an evaluation program of areas with potential human occupations during the Peistocene-Holocene transition and are targeted at specific geoforms such as river terraces, alluvial fans, wetlands and salt flat surroundings. The variability of the archaeological record is discussed within the framework of the regional prehispanic and historic sequence, and specially within the framework of the first human occupations on both salt flats.