Abstract

The Pacific coast of the Southern Andes has a long occupational history that shows regional diversification by the Middle and Late Holocene. The coast of north-central Chile had a significant hunter-gatherer occupation between cal 6000 and 2000 BP, which differs from those observed in neighboring areas because of their environmental and historic characteristics. Studies of funerary contexts reveal that these groups underwent a demographic expansion and experienced social conflict during this period. But an emphasis on the significance of funerary contexts in the period cal 6000-2000 BP has limited our knowledge of these groups' environmental strategies and use of coastal resources. This research examines evidence recovered from residential and funerary contexts from the Punta Teatinos site (Coquimbo Bay, north central coast of Chile, 29(degrees)S) to assess the strategies of environmental use. The study of this evidence-including stratigraphy; radiocarbon dating; lithic, malacological, and zooarchaeological material; microfossils; dental calculi, stable isotopes; and rock art-indicates an exploitation of coastal resources, to which others of terrestrial origin were added. Although no temporal changes in the exploitation of coastal resources were identified, the evidence also indicates changes in the constitution of historical landscapes and extra-regional social networks.