Abstract

The notable sparseness of human skeletal remains is a characteristic trait of early American prehistory and, therefore, this aspect of the archaeological record is seldom considered in its discussion. In this context, the finding of remains from five individuals dated to the 9th millenium BP on the re-excavations at Baño Nuevo Cave (Andean Central Patagonia, Chile) is particularly interesting. They may not appear excessively old, but several radiocarbon dates (two of them done through AMS directly on the bone of one of the individuals) place them among the very few well-dated early human skeletons throughout the Americas. The small sample size militates against any interpretation of biological affiliation (to say nothing of population movements) and we can only affirm that these people belonged to a generalized "mongoloid stock", different from historically known Patagonian populations. After a brief presentation of the skeletal evidence and the bone dating methods, we evaluate the relevance of this context with respect to the sparse osteological record of humans in the Americas on the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.