Dunes, hills, waterholes, and saltpeter beds: Attractors for human populations in western Pampa, Argentina

摘要

Desert environments have generally been considered unsuitable places for the development of human communities. However, archaeological research shows that they have been intensively populated and traveled landscapes. These environments share common characteristics (scarcity of surface water, desert vegetation, high evapotranspiration, water imbalance, among others). But archaeological investigations account for the variability of both, desert settings and social trajectories of their populations.