Abstract

The adaptive strategies of the human groups which populated the highlands of the southeast of the Atacama Desert in the South-Central Andes (21-24.5 degrees S), of northern Chile, during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (12,600-10,200 cal BP) are discussed. The paleoenviron-ments, lithic and bone assemblages, and use of the space are compared: TUI-1 and 5, corres-ponding to two shelters under bedrock, located in the Tuina mountain range and SPN-1 and 6 open-air camps, located in the eastern edge of the Punta Negra salt flat. It is proposed that the Tuina settlements pattern were the first colonizing pulses during the final Pleistocene in the peri-puna ecoregion environments, demonstrating during the Early Holocene an increasing mobility between ecological floors and increased specialization in the Andean environments on both slopes of the puna region. On the other hand, occupations related to Fell pattern observed so far in the Punta Negra and Imilac basins, would correspond to explorations events that would have opted for the Costa-Andes corridor to take advantage of the fertile spaces iso-lated from the high desert and reach the resources to the south from the Longitudinal Valley of central Chile.