What is it about?

In archaeology it is usually very hard to reconstruct local environments where peopled lived. The older the sites, the harder it gets. Not in the Atacama Desert, where tree stumps as old as 12,000 years were preserved at the surface. By mapping and dating these trees with radiocarbon, we discovered that there was a small forest, that people actually settled beneath their shade and protection, and that they took care of a species, called tamarugo, likely because of its ecological properties, by sparingly using it as a firewood.

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Why is it important?

Our research demonstrates that hunter-gatherers moved and settled not only based on water or food resources, but also on tree location. This has been observed ethnographically and proposed archaeologically, but never actually proven, due to preservation issues. Our study also shows that hunter-gatherers not only exhausted or used resources economically, but preserved some parts of nature in order to create homes, safe spaces, places for congregation.

Perspectives

I think this article is important because it shows different ways in which humans can relate to nature, something that is critical, at least as an inspiration, to reflect on the ways ourselves interact with nature. As archaeologists we know hunter-gatherers inhabit and see the world different, but it is hard to actually have a chance to study, through material evidence, those different ways to interact with nature. It was very refreshing to actually see archaeologically that these people had a very refined knowledge of the nature around them and that they were acting accordingly, not only to benefit themselves, but to create healthy habitats.

Paula Ugalde

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: The first peoples of the Atacama Desert lived among the trees: A 11,600- to 11,200-year-old grove and congregation site, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2320506121.
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