View source for Cueva Fell

{{short description|Cave and archaeological site in Patagonia}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Cueva Fell
| alternate_name = Río Chico [[rock shelter|shelter]]
| image          = File:Cueva Fell exterior.jpg
| image_size     = 240
| alt            = Cueva Fell
| caption        = Cueva Fell as seen from across the Chico River
| map            =
| map_type       = Tierra del Fuego#Chile
| map_alt        = Cueva Fell
| map_caption    = location in Tierra del Fuego##location in Chile
| map_size       = 240
| relief         = yes
| coordinates    = {{coord|52|02|S|70|03|W|display=inline}}
| map_dot_label  =
| location       = [[Chico River (Gallegos)|Chico]], [[Gallegos River|Gallegos]]
| region         = [[Patagonia]], [[Chile]]
| built          = Early [[Holocene]],
| abandoned      =
| epochs         =[[Neolithic]]
| cultures       =
| event          =
| excavations    =
| archaeologists = [[Junius Bird]]; John Fell
| architectural_styles =
| architectural_details =
| notes          =
| designation1            =
| designation1_offname    =
| designation1_type       =
| designation1_criteria   =
| designation1_date       =
| delisted1_date          =
| designation1_partof     =
| designation1_number     =
| designation1_free1name  =
| designation1_free1value =
| designation1_free2name  =
| designation1_free2value =
| designation1_free3name  =
| designation1_free3value =
| precolumbian = yes <!-- non-functional tracking parameter, do not remove/change -->
}}
[[File:Fell's Cave Stratigraphy.jpg|thumb|270px|Cueva Fell's stratigraphy]]
'''Cueva Fell''' or '''Fell's''' '''Cave''' is a natural cave and [[archaeological]] site in southern [[Patagonia]].<ref>Heusser, 2003</ref> Cueva Fell is in proximity to the [[Pali Aike Crater]], another significant archaeological site. Cueva Fell combined with the nearby Pali Aike site have been submitted to [[UNESCO]] as a possible [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1204/ |title=Fell and Pali Aike Caves - UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Unesco.org |access-date= March 11, 2017}}</ref>
== Site discovery ==
Fell's Cave was discovered by [[Junius Bird]]. It came to his attention because [[projectile point|arrow points]] and flakes were found on the surface. The cave was originally called the Río Chico [[rock shelter|shelter]], but was later renamed by Bird to Fell's Cave in honor of the Fell family who owned the Estancia Brazo Norte, the North Arm Station, where the cave is located.<ref name=Bird_p137/> Excavation of the site began in 1936.
== Site formation ==
Fell's Cave is located in the Río Chico canyon, [[Chile]], near the [[Straits of Magellan]] and the [[Argentina|Argentine]] border. This area is known as the ''Southern Patagonian Basalt Plateaus''.<ref name=Bird_Markgraf_p196>Markgraf, in Bird, 1988, p.196</ref> Situated on the southeast side of what was once a river bank, it is more accurately described as a rock shelter. It was formed by river water wearing away at the sandstone bank, leaving behind a canopy of lava conglomerate and thus creating a shelter {{convert|28|ft|m|abbr=on}} deep and {{convert|38|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide. The erosion formed a smooth floor of hard clay.<ref name=Bird_p134>Bird, 1988, p.134</ref> Remnants of [[sandstone]] still clinging to the [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]] roof eventually fell to the floor, forming an archaeologically sterile layer that  separated later human occupation periods.<ref name=Bird_p134/>
== Stratigraphy ==
[[Junius Bird]] labelled the occupational sediment layers of the site from top to bottom, the top layer directly under the surface is I and the oldest, lowest layer is V.
;Surface
The surface material of the site is composed of dirt, rocks, and hard-packed sheep manure. The surface layer ranges from {{convert|18|to|24|in|cm|abbr=on}} in thickness.<ref name=Bird_p137>Bird, 1988, p.137</ref>
;Layer I
The youngest stratigraphic layer of Fell's Cave is a dark earth layer, reaching approximately {{convert|10|in|cm|abbr=on}} in thickness.<ref name=Bird_p138>Bird, 1988, p.138</ref> This component dates from around 700 years BP to the present.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173>Roosevelt, 1990, p.73</ref> According to conventional radiocarbon dating, the layer dates to 1265 CE +-90.<ref name=Bird_1988>Bird, 1988</ref>
;Layer II
The division between Layer I and Layer II is relatively indistinguishable as the sediments are of similar dark earth, and also reach about {{convert|10|in|cm|abbr=on}} or more in thickness.<ref name=Bird_p138/> This layer dates to around 6,500 years BP.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/>
;Layer III
This layer dates to around 8,500 to 6,500 years BP.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> The earth consistency between Layers II and III marking a notable distinction between the two. Layer III is approximately {{convert|12|to|15|in|cm|abbr=on}} thick and consists of compacted dark earth.<ref name=Bird_p138/>
;Layer IV
The thickness of this layer varies from {{convert|13|to|17|in|cm|abbr=on}} and consists of firmly packed dark earth.<ref name=Bird_p139/> This layer dates from c. 10,000 to 8,500 years BP.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/>
;Sterile Layer
After the earliest layer, Layer V, had accumulated, sandstone slabs fell from the roof of the cave and sealed it off. This layer is {{convert|15|to|20|in|cm|abbr=on}} thick.<ref name=Bird_p134/>
;Layer V
A refuse soft clay soil varying in thickness from {{convert|3|to|9|in|cm|abbr=on}} composes the oldest occupation level at the site.<ref name=Bird_p142>Bird, 1988, p.142</ref> The site dates from 11,000 +-170 years BP to 10,080 +-160 years BP according to conventional radiocarbon dating.<ref name=Bird_1988/>
== Chronology ==
[[File:Cueva Fell Painting.jpg|thumb|270px|right|Artist's rendition of Cueva Fell exterior]]
Bird named the periods from earliest to latest, thus Period I is the oldest and is associated with Layer V, while Period V is the latest and is associated with Layer I.
;Period V
This period (layer I) is typified by a tool assemblage containing small arrow points and various [[bone tools]], as well as such cultural materials as combs and beads.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> Based on the style of the arrow points, it is likely that this period is associated with the Ona Indians.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> The faunal assemblage of this period is dominated by [[guanaco]] bone fragments.<ref name=Bird_p138/>
;Period IV
Period IV is characterized by the presence of stone tools such as stemmed or legged stone points, knives, and small thumb-nail scrapers as well as a bone tool assemblage.<ref name=Roosevelt_p1/> Large [[bolas]], various beads and other ornaments are also present.<ref name=Roosevelt_p1>Roosevelt, 1990, p.1</ref> This Period can also be distinguished by the building of structures including extended burials and rock cairns.<ref name=Roosevelt_p1/> Again, the faunal assemblage is dominated by guanaco.<ref name=Bird_p139/>
;Period III
Present in this layer are bone awls, stone scrapers, and triangular stone points with rounded bases. Also, bolas of notably smaller size than the subsequent later period, period IV.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> It has been suggested that these small stone bolas may have been used in procurement of birds.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> Guanaco and fox bone fragments dominate the faunal assemblage.<ref name=Bird_p138/>
;Period II
This layers consists mainly of bone points and [[Bradawl|awls]], and stone scrapers.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> Junius Bird notes in Travels and Archaeology in South Chile that this layer contained significantly more sediment in relation to artifact distribution.<ref name=Bird_p139>Bird, 1988, p.139</ref>
;Period I
The oldest cultural occupation at this site belongs to the Fell's Tradition.<ref>Dillehay et al. 1992:170</ref> Thus, Fell's Cave is the type site for the Fell's Tradition. This tradition is characterized most notably by fishtail points as well as various stone scrapers, choppers, stone discs and bone tools.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/> Several hearths were also excavated from this level which produced three radiocarbon dates between c.11,000 and 10,000 years BP.<ref name=Roosevelt_p173/>
== Ecology ==
=== Climate ===
In the [[Late Pleistocene]], prior to 12,500 years BP, the area surrounding Cueva Fell was dominated by high winds, year-round freezing temperatures, and annual precipitation under 300&nbsp;mm. This [[heath]]land environment was replaced by a treeless, [[xeric]], herbaceous [[steppe]] environment through 11,000 years BP, as the freezing temperatures and winds began to abate.<ref name=Borrero_p341>Borrero, 1999b, p.341</ref><ref name=Markgraf_p53>Markgraf, 1993, p.53</ref> This is the climate and terrain that most closely predated the first human inhabitants in the area.
The earliest human occupation dates suggested by the finds in Layer V—c. 11,000 to 10,000 years BP correspond to a period of [[stadial]] cooling. In what has been described as a possible South American equivalent to the [[Younger Dryas]], the [[Patagonia]]n region experienced a period of low temperatures and high precipitation as well as advancing glaciers.<ref name="Borrero_p93-98">Borrero, 1999, p.93-98</ref> This was followed in 10,000 to 9,000 years BP by a warming trend. These two thousand years in question marked a fitful end to the last ice age, one marked by high environmental variability. While this produced significant changes in some [[taxa]], humans, at this time, were already becoming adept at adjusting to new environments and appear not to have been deleteriously affected by the changeable and unpredictable climate.<ref name="Markgraf_p62-63">Markgraf, 1993, p.62-63</ref>
As the Holocene warming trend persisted, so the environment of southern Patagonia continued to change. The archaeology of Fell's Cave provides evidence for the regular occurrence of summer droughts in the area—droughts that, combined with increasing summer storm activity, may have led to wildfires. The decrease in water availability combined with the evident (through [[pollen analysis]]) dramatic change in grazing flora species, are proposed as contributing factors to the evident faunal extinction.<ref name=Markgraf_p63>Markgraf, 1993, p.63</ref><ref name=Paez_p73>Paez, 1999, p.73</ref>
The period of 9,000 to 6,000 years BP saw less remarkable shifts in climate, with a general trend away from xeric taxa and, it is then presumed, an increase in precipitation. There is insufficient [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]] control at the site to determine local climate conditions post-6,000 years BP, however regional ecology suggests a slight shift towards more aridity.<ref name="Bird_Markgraf_p199-200">Markgraf, in Bird, 1988, p.199-200</ref>
Today Cueva Fell joins most of southern Argentina in what is known as the Fuego-Patagonia steppe environment. The area receives less than {{convert|400|mm|in|abbr=on}} annual precipitation (typical for the Patagonia region but much drier than neighbouring coastal or mountain terrains) and is dominated by bunch grasses from the genera ''Festuca'' and ''Stipa'', along with a variety of herbaceous vegetation.<ref name=Markgraf_p56>Markgraf, 1993, p.56</ref>
=== Flora & fauna ===
Cueva Fell is notable for the range of now-extinct faunal finds excavated from within it. Notable among these are the [[giant sloth]] and the [[equus scotti|horse]]. The horse was to become extinct and absent in the Americas through most of the Holocene until it was imported by Europeans.<ref name=Bird_1970_p207>Bird, 1970, p.207</ref> In fact the evidence of the ancient horse Cueva Fell was the first proof that horses occupied the Americas before being reintroduced from the Old World. The stratified remains of both human and animals provides evidence that human occupation of the area actually preceded the extinction of both the native horse ([[Hippidion|''Hippidion saldiasi'']]) and the [[ground sloth]] ''[[Mylodon]]''. This same evidence suggested that ancient horse was hunted and eaten.<ref name=Bird_p153>Bird, 1988, p.153</ref> However humans weren't the sole predators in the area. Bone remains of the horse, [[llama]] and ground sloth all display puncture marks, most likely made by the [[Cougar|Patagonia panther]].<ref name=Borrero_p342>Borrero, 1999b, p.342</ref>
The Early Holocene taxa change—the extinction of mostly [[herbivorous]] animals in South America—was initially attributed to human over-hunting, as were the [[Megafauna extinction#Mass extinctions|megafaunal extinctions]] in North America. Analysis of pollen extracted from Cueva Fell suggested a substantial reduction in grassland in southern Patagonia in the period just preceding these extinctions, and was an early piece of evidence in the mounting argument against hunting as the primary cause of species collapse.<ref name="Bird_Markgraf_p196"/> Large quantities of [[guanaco|guanaco (lama)]] were also found in the older depositional layers. Where other large grazing fauna died out in the early Holocene, guanaco appear to have survived as a result of their less specialized plant diet, adapting to the change in vegetation that accompanied the warming Holocene. Guanaco population sizes initially dipped along with other grazing species, but eventually recovered.<ref name="Bird_Markgraf_p200-01">Markgraf, in Bird, 1988, p.200-201</ref>
Analysis of [[Canidae|canine]] remains found in all five human occupation levels of the cave initially suggested they were those of [[Domestic dog|domestic dog (Canis familiaris)]]. This would have been remarkable as the earliest evidence for the domestic dog in the Americas. However subsequent analyses suggest the skull and teeth remains to have been from two wild species: [[Pseudalopex griseus|Pseudalopex griseus (South American gray fox)]] and Canis avus (a small fox or wolf-life canine, particular to South America in the late Pleistocene period).<ref name="Bird_Clutton_p189-94">Clutton-Brock, in Bird, 1988, p.189-94</ref> Other faunal bone remains include [[hawks]] and [[falcon]]s.<ref name=Borrero_p342/>
== Artifacts ==
[[File:Puntas cola de pescado Cueva Fell.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Fishtail projectile point|Fishtail projectile points]] recovered from Cueva Fell by Junius Bird in the 1930s]]
The first excavation of Fell's cave in 1936 yielded 511 artefacts. These included [[hafting|hafted implements]], [[knives]], [[Scraper (archaeology)|scrapers]], [[bolas]], a couple of circular rubbing stones, and [[bone tools]].<ref name=Bird_p145/>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; width:99%"
! colspan="33" style="text-align:center; font-size:105%; background:#fffed6; color:#000000;"|Distribution of artefacts from Fell's Cave (1936)<ref name=Bird_p145>Bird, 1988, p.145</ref>
|-
! Group
! Category
! Surface layer
! Layer I
! Layer II
! Layer III
! Layer IV
! Layer V
! Total
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="9" | '''Hafted implements'''
| style="text-align:left" |Ona-type arrow point
|  -
|  13
|  2
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  15
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Patagonian-type arrow point
|  1
|  11
|  5
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  18
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Small, triangular arrow point
|  -
|  2
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Small, rudimentary stem
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Old-type, triangular point
|  -
|  -
|  2
|  20
|  2
|  -
|  24
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Triangular, concave base
|  -
|  1
|  1
|  2
|  -
|  1
|  5
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Fishtail point
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  15
|  15
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Hafted knife
|  -
|  12
|  5
|  2
|  -
|  -
|  19
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Hafted knife, questionable
|  -
|  5
|  2
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  7
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="5" | '''Knives'''
| style="text-align:left" |Thin, single-edge
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  2
|  -
|  -
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" |3-sided
|  -
|  -
|  possibly 2
|  1
|  1
|  -
|  4
|-
| style="text-align:left" |?, concave base, broad, thin
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Fragment (uncertain)
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  3
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Combination knife-scraper
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  2
|  -
|  -
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="9" | '''Scrapers'''
| style="text-align:left" |Single-edge, rough flake
|  11
|  45
|  59
|  36
|  25
|  26
|  202
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2-edge, large
|  3
|  2
|  2
|  -
|  2
|  1
|  10
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2-edge, narrow
|  -
|  4
|  11
|  1
|  6
|  -
|  22
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2 points
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  2
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Large, rough, circular edge
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  2
|  2
|  6
|  11
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Reversed-edge
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |End
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  6
|  6
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Small, hafted
|  13
|  26
|  51
|  9
|  -
|  -
|  99
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Unfinished blank
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  6
|  1
|  -
|  8
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="4" | '''Bolas'''
| style="text-align:left" |Deep groove, flat ends
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Unfinished
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Spherical, fragment
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Lemon-shaped, fragment
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |
| style="text-align:left" |Circular rubbing stone
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  2
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="5" | '''Bone implements'''
| style="text-align:left" |Chipping tool
|  -
|  12
|  6
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  18
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Bird bone awl
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Solid bone awl
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Lance point
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Bead
|  -
|  1
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |
| style="text-align:left" |Totals
|  28
|  141
|  153
|  86
|  40
|  63
|  511
|}
Perhaps the most significant find in the 1936 excavation was the [[fishtail projectile point]]. All of the fishtail points were associated with large mammals including: extinct horses, giant [[ground sloth]]s, and guanacos. Fifteen fishtail projectile points were recovered from Layer V which is the oldest layer that dates back to 11,000 +-170 and 10,080 +-160 years BP. These fishtail point have been radiocarbon dated to be ca. 11,000 years old.<ref name="Bird_p147-48">Bird, 1988, p.147-148</ref>
Discoidal stones, referred in the chart as circular rubbing stones, were also found.  Bird notes in a 1970 journal article that "stone artefacts shaped by pecking and grinding are so generally absent among Paleo-Indian finds that exceptions are noteworthy".<ref name=Bird1970_p205>Bird, 1970, p.205</ref> There were two stones found in Cueva Fell; both of them were clearly associated with animal remains.  Both were made from lava.  The larger stone has a diameter of about {{convert|12.3|cm|in|abbr=on}} and weighs about {{convert|1.12|kg|lb|abbr=on}} while the smaller stone is about {{convert|8.4|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter and weighs about {{convert|0.5|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Bird_p148>Bird, 1988, p.148</ref> There was also a substantial amount of scrapers found throughout all the Cueva Fell layers. The bone tools found, according to Bird, were made from sloth bone because there bone used showed no evidence of marrow cavities.<ref name=Bird_p152>Bird, 1988, p.152</ref>
In 1969 there was a second dig organized at Cueva Fell but it was focused in a slightly different location of the cave. During this excavation 415 artifacts were found; various [[spear|points]], knives, scrapers, [[lithic core|cores]], bolas, and bone tools.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; width:60%"
! colspan="33" style="text-align:center; font-size:105%; background:#fffed6; color:#000000;"| Artefacts from Fell's Cave excavated in 1969 and 1970<ref name=Bird_p176>Bird, 1988, p.176</ref>
|-
! Group
! Category
! Area D
! Area C and D
! Total
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="7" | '''Points'''
| style="text-align:left" |Ona, small, barbed
|  9
|  -
|  9
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Small, triangular
|  1
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Unidentified, fragment
|  1
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Patagonian, stemmed
|  7
|  9
|  16
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Spear
|  1
|  1
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Old-type, stemless, triangular
|  -
|  16
|  16
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Fishtail
|  -
|  1
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="6" | '''Knives'''
| style="text-align:left" |Hafted
|  1
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Knife or spear
|  -
|  2
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Small, leaf-shaped
|  -
|  1
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Single edge (from flake)
|  2
|  3
|  5
|-
| style="text-align:left" |3-edge
|  -
|  2
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Combination knife-scraper
|  1
|  2
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="13" | '''Scrapers'''
| style="text-align:left" |Rough, single-edge flake
|  26
|  103
|  129
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2-edge, large
|  2
|  13
|  15
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2-edge, narrow (parallel)
|  1
|  1
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2 points
|  1
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |2 sides to point
|  1
|  4
|  5
|-
| style="text-align:left" |1-edge (like 2-edge)
|  31
|  47
|  78
|-
| style="text-align:left" |1-sided, rounded end
|  -
|  5
|  5
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Large, circular
|  -
|  12
|  12
|-
| style="text-align:left" |End
|  3
|  8
|  11
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Reversed 2-edge
|  1
|  -
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Hafted
|  32
|  23
|  55
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Fragment, uncertain, misc.
|  2
|  9
|  11
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Blank
|  -
|  9
|  9
|-
| style="text-align:left" |
| style="text-align:left" |'''Cores'''
|  1
|  4
|  5
|-
| style="text-align:left" |
| style="text-align:left" |'''Bolas'''
|  1
|  3
|  4
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="5" | '''Bone tools'''
| style="text-align:left" |Chipping tool
|  2
|  1
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Bird bone awl
|  -
|  3
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Solid point awl
|  1
|  1
|  2
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Bonce lance point
|  -
|  3
|  3
|-
| style="text-align:left" |Spear thrower contact point
|  -
|  1
|  1
|-
| style="text-align:left" |
| style="text-align:left" |'''Total'''
|  130
|  285
|  415
|}
== Site significance ==
=== The colonization of the New World ===
The colonization of the Americas may be one of the most contentious archaeological debates today. The issue involves a large body of research and numerous theories as to how and when this event began. For decades, the ''Clovis-first model''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h431.html |title=Clovis-First Model |publisher=US History.com |access-date= March 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-clovis-point-and-the-discovery-of-americas-first-culture-3825828/ |title=The Clovis Point and the Discovery of America's First Culture |publisher=Smithsonianmag.com |date=November 1, 2013  |author=Charles C. Mann |access-date= March 12, 2017}}</ref> trumped all other theories for the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|Settlement of the Americas]]. This theory basically holds that the [[Clovis culture]] constituted the earliest peoples to arrive in and inhabit North America. Entering the Americas from Asia via the [[Bering Land Bridge]] and migrating south through the ice free corridor, the [[Clovis culture|Clovis people]] populated southern North America. This population spread through [[Central America]] and finally South America.
At the time the theory was proposed no archaeological evidence had been discovered in the Americas which pre-dated 11,050 to 10,800 years BP, or the onset of the [[Clovis culture]]. However, in the last few decades a multitude of sites were found, which at first challenged this theory and now demand a new model to explain the [[peopling of the Americas]].<ref name=Waters_p1225>Waters, 2007, p.1225</ref> Based on the current understanding of archaeological evidence, it is now widely accepted that a pre-Clovis culture colonized the Americas via a Pacific coastal route sometime between 14,000 and 12,000 years BP.<ref name=Dillehay_p214>Dillehay, 1999, p.214</ref>
Some of the evidence supporting the coastal theory comes from the southernmost portions of [[South America]]. Many researchers now agree that occupation of [[Tierra del Fuego]], between 11,000 and 10,500 years ago, simply does not provide enough time for mid-continental migration. A similar argument is made about [[Monte Verde]], which may be the best known and most widely accepted of these sites and which pre-dates Clovis by approximately 1,000 years.
Although site discovery and excavation were not recent, Cueva Fell is representative of occupation of southern South America. The earliest occupation at Cueva Fell, between 11,000 +-170 and 10,080 +-160 years BP, does not pre-date but is coeval with Clovis.<ref name=Dillehay_et_al_p170>Dillehay et al., 1992, p.170</ref> Other Late Pleistocene sites in Argentina, such as Cerro Tres Tetas, Cueva Casa del Minero and Piedra Museo are also contemporaneous with Clovis and the early occupation at Fell's Cave.<ref name=Waters_p1225/>
=== Stone tool technology ===
The common tendency to compare South American and North American prehistory is increasingly becoming outmoded, most notably in regards to early technological adaptations. It has been long believed that the early fluted points of South America represented a diffusion of the fluted North American Clovis points. South American fluted points include the fishtail point represented at Cueva Fell and many other regions, the El Jobo point (Venezuela), and the [[Paijan culture|Paijan point]] (Peru and Ecuador), all of which dating to Clovis times.<ref name=Dillehay_p211>Dillehay, 1999, p.211</ref>
The fluted stone tool variants of South America represent regional adaptations to the procurement of Pleistocene [[megafauna]] that contrasts with the continent-wide use of Clovis points in North America.<ref name=Dillehay_p207>Dillehay, 1999, p.207</ref> Such regional technological adaptations seem to reflect the initial dispersal of small paleoindian groups throughout the vast continent. The fishtail points of Cueva Fell thus represent crucial evidence in the distinction between tool technologies in the southern and northern continents of the Americas.
=== Site discovery in Fuego-Patagonia ===
Finally, Cueva Fell deserves recognition for representing possibly the earliest occupation of Fuego-Patagonia approximately 11,000 BP.<ref name=BorreroFranco_p222>Borrero & Franco, 1992, p.222</ref> This southern region of South America is symbolic of "the end of the line" for the initial colonization of the New World.
The early inhabitants of Fuego-Patagonia signify sparse populations spread out over large territories and chances of site discovery in this region are low.<ref name=BorreroFranco_p223/> Compounding the low likelihood of site discovery in this region is the deeply buried contexts associated with such early occupation and the subsequent increase of various perturbation processes threatening the archaeological integrity.<ref name=BorreroFranco_p223>Borrero & Franco, 1992, p.223</ref> Many of these sites, Cueva Fell included, are rock shelters which have been used as dens by carnivorous fauna over thousands of years, which not only disturb archaeological deposits but add difficulty to recognizing archaeological sites.<ref name=BorreroFranco_p223/> Low population density combined with these other factors make Junius Bird's discovery of Cueva Fell in 1936 truly remarkable in and of itself.
== See also ==
* [[Lago Ana]]
* [[Pali-Aike National Park]]
* [[Cueva de las Manos]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite journal |journal= American Antiquity |year=1970 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=205–209 |title= Paleo-Indian Discoidal stones from Southern South America |author=Bird, Junius B. |jstor=278152 |issn=0002-7316 |doi=10.2307/278152|s2cid=162317721 }}
* {{cite book |last=Bird |first=Junius B. |title=Travels and Archaeology in South Chile |publisher=University of Iowa Press |year=1988 |pages=1–246  |isbn=0-87745-202-4}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Borrero, Luis Alberto |author2=Franco, Nora Viviana |title=Early Patagonia Hunter-Gatherers: Subsistence and Technology |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=219–239 |year=1997 |doi=10.1086/jar.53.2.3631277 |jstor=3631277|s2cid=87160252 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Borrero, Luis |title=Human dispersal and climatic conditions during Late Pleistocene times in Fuego-Patagonia |journal=Quaternary International |volume=53 |issue=54 |pages=93–99 |year=1999 |doi=10.1016/s1040-6182(98)00010-x |jstor=25801146}}
* {{cite book |last=Clutton-Brock |first=Juliet |editor-first=Junius B. |editor-last=Bird |title=Travels and Archaeology in South Chile |publisher=University of Iowa Press |year=1988 |pages=188–195 |chapter=The Carnivore Remains Excavated at Fell’s Cave in 1970 |isbn=0-87745-202-4}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Dillehay, Tom D. |author2=Calderon, Gerardo Ardila |author3=Politis, Gustavo |title=Earliest hunters and gatherers of South America |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=145–204 |year=1992 |doi=10.1007/BF00975549 |jstor=25800613 |s2cid=162353211 |url=https://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/140416 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Dillehay |title=The late Pleistocene cultures of South America |journal=Evolutionary Anthropology |volume=7 |pages=206–216 |year=1999 |issue=6 |doi=10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1999)7:6<206::aid-evan5>3.0.co;2-g|s2cid=38851483 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Gnecco |first1=Cristóbal |last2=Aceituno |first2=Javier |editor-first=Juliet E. |editor-last=Morrow |editor2-first=Cristóbal |editor2-last=Gnecco |title=Paleoindian Archaeology: A Hemisphere Perspective |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2006 |pages=86–104 |chapter=Early Humanized Landscapes in Northern South America |isbn=0-8130-3389-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Heusser |first=Calvin J. |title=Ice Age Southern Andes: A Chronicle of Paleoecological Events |publisher=Elsevier |year=2003 |pages=1–240  |isbn=0-444-51478-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Lawrence J. |editor-first=Juliet E. |editor-last=Morrow |editor2-first=Cristóbal |editor2-last=Gnecco |title=Paleoindian Archaeology: A Hemisphere Perspective |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2006 |pages=105–120 |chapter=Fluted and Fishtail Points from Southern Coastal Chile: New Evidence Suggesting Clovis- and Folsom-Related Occupations in Southernmost South America |isbn=0-8130-3389-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Markgraf |first=Vera |editor-first=Junius B. |editor-last=Bird |title=Travels and Archaeology in South Chile |publisher=University of Iowa Press |year=1988 |pages=196–201 |chapter=11,000 Years of Changes in Paleoenvironments, Fauna, and Human Occupation |isbn=0-87745-202-4}}
* {{cite journal |author=Markgraf, Vera |title=Paleoenvironments and paleoclimates in Tierra del Fuego and southernmost Patagonia, South America |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=102 |pages=53–68 |year=1993 |issue=1–2 |doi=10.1016/0031-0182(93)90005-4 }}
* {{cite journal |author1=Paez, M.M. |author2=Prieto, A.R. |author3=Mancini, M.V. |title=Fossil pollen from Los Toldos locality: A record of the Late-glacial transition in the Extra-Andean Patagonia |journal=Quaternary International |volume=53-54 |pages=69–75 |year=1999 |doi=10.1016/S1040-6182(98)00008-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ranere |first=Anthony J. |editor-first=Juliet E. |editor-last=Morrow |editor2-first=Cristóbal |editor2-last=Gnecco |title=Paleoindian Archaeology: A Hemisphere Perspective |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2006 |pages=69–85 |chapter=The Clovis Colonization of Central America |isbn=0-8130-3389-6}}
* {{cite journal |author=Roosevelt, Anna C. |title=Travels and Archaeology In South Chile |journal=The Latin American Anthropology Review |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=72–74 |year=1990|doi=10.1525/jlca.1990.2.2.72 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Waters, Michael R. |title=Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas |journal=Science |volume=315 |issue=5815 |pages=1122–1126 |year=2007 |doi=10.1126/science.1137166 |pmid=17322060 |jstor=20039062|s2cid=23205379 }}
* Michael R. Waters, Thomas Amorosi, Thomas W. Stafford, jr.: ''Redacting Fell's Cave, Chile and the Chronological Placement of the Fishtail Projectile Point''. In: ''American Antiquity'', Society for American Archaeology, Volume 80, No. 2 (April 2015), p.&nbsp;376–386
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[[Category:Archaeological sites in Chile]]
[[Category:Caves of Chile|Fell]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Chile]]
[[Category:Pre-Columbian cultures]]
[[Category:Rock shelters]]