Los aportes Geo-arqueológicos y etnográficos en la comprensión del estilo de vida de las poblaciones cazadoras-recolectoras durante Pleistoceno tardío y el Holoceno temprano

Abstract

The nomadic lifestyle has been the longest of humanity, the first populations arrived on the American continent more than 27,000 years ago. Nomadism prioritizes mobility to have an effective transfer, their subsistence depends on it, the constant movement of nomadic populations allows ecosystems to have enough time to regenerate the exploited resources. Likewise, there are different types of occupations that can be seasonal, for indefinite periods, or even daily transfers, depending on each particular nomadic group. Archeology aims to understand human populations through their material culture, which is why studying nomadic groups poses several obstacles because the evidence is barely preserved, having zero visibility in the archaeological record. The materials that are best preserved and can be identified in the archaeological context are bone, lithic, shell and carbon. An alternative for dating when radiocarbon is not possible is through the stratigraphy of the site, other data that this method can provide us is the identification of plant and pollen fossils, these in turn allow us to approach the reconstruction of the environment in its different phases, they provide us with data such as the type of existing flora, climate and temperature approximations, climatic changes by stages, among others. On the one hand, the methods of geo-archaeology allow us to understand the geological and environmental processes of the site, and on the other hand, to analyze the provenance (with petrographic analysis) of the lithic materials. The aforementioned could allow locating the extraction and manufacturing areas of the artifacts.                In addition, to complement the archaeological investigation, it is necessary to look for other sources of information such as ethnographies, which are essential to approach the prehistoric lifestyle, because the few modern hunter-gatherer groups still preserve cultural traits similar to those seen in archaeological contexts, therefore, ethnographies allow to give direction to the archaeological study of these populations. The present work will focus on the nomadic groups of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene in the current Mexican territory. As thematic axis, the prehistory of North America will be considered, particularly of the current Mexican territory and the southern United States, the distribution and main characteristics of the nomadic populations of the late Pleistocene, their relationship with the megafauna and environmental conditions will be seen. In addition, the sites of "El  fin del mundo" in Sonora and "El cedral" in San Luis Potosí will be seen. The data provided by the geological sciences will be used to understand the environment. However, the ethnographies carried out in nomadic groups in places such as the Kalahari desert will serve as a reference to reconstruct the lifestyle of the groups in the Paleoindian period. Keywords: Prehistory, artifacts, hunter-gatherers, nomads, settlements