Climatic oscillations and natural hazards: palaeoecological and archaeological perspectives on the dynamics of socio-cultural strategies in an Andean highland region (NW Argentina)

• Applicant: Dr. Karsten Schittek
• Subject Area: Physical Geography ; Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431986476

Our aim is to learn if major changes in the socio-cultural history of local populations in the Andean highlands are linked to climatic shifts in the past. The knowledge on timing and magnitude of climatic changes, that may have provoked periods of bloom and decline of pre-Hispanic cultures, is still incomplete. Existing palaeoclimate data often lacks resolution and comparability. Concerning the archaeological record in the Argentine Puna, no attempts have yet been made to correlate the relationship between human strategies and environmental change during the past 3000 years.We propose to carry out a Late Holocene vegetation and climate reconstruction based on a multi-proxy approach (micro-/macrofossils, stable isotope analysis, geochemical analysis, sedimentology) from peat sediment cores. Carefully selected peatland study sites will be investigated along an East-West-crossing transect which follows a humidity gradient with wet conditions in the east and decreasing moisture availability towards the west, crossing the prevailing archaeological sites (including Casabindo). High-elevation cushion peatlands are extremely well-suited for palaeoecological multi-proxy studies. The strengths of these geoarchives are their comparability over climatic gradients, their high accumulation rates and the high quality of their peat deposits to be precisely 14C-dated. Their sensitivity towards changes in effective moisture supply is one of the key characteristics of their high-Andean environments. Even small changes in the water budget can lead to significant responses in water runoff, geomorphodynamical processes and vegetation cover. Water availability, and thus, climate plays a major role in sustaining both the highly diverse ecosystems and the integrity of the local population.The combination of our experiences, research sites and cooperative contacts allows us to fill a gap within South American palaeoenvironmental research. The interdisciplinary project ’CONDOR‘ seeks to bridge between natural sciences and humanities, and in this connection, it represents a new research perspective on a topic that is barely developed in the context of Man-environment-relationships in Latin American research areas. Our project is designed to work with local inhabitants, students and scientists at various stages to ensure an immediate exchange of practical expertise and experience.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Argentina
• Partner Organisation: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Maria Esther Albeck, from 3/2020 until 6/2020 (†); Dr. Liliana Concepcion Lupo, since 6/2020