South America (28,577 – 7,822 BCE): Upper Pleistocene II → Early Holocene — Deglaciation, Reconnected Refugia, and Littoral Gateways

Geographic & Environmental Context

From the Quito–Cuzco–Titicaca–Altiplano to the Orinoco–Llanos, across the Amazon (Solimões–Madeira–Xingu–Tapajós–Marajó) and the Guianas Shield, and along the still-broadened Atlantic Brazil shelf and the upwelling coasts of Peru–northern Chile, South America entered the Early Holocene as a continent of rising mountains and rising seas.
In the south, South America Minor—Patagonia south of the Río Negro/Río Grande, the Strait of Magellan–Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, and the Falkland/Malvinas–Juan Fernández outliers—saw Cordilleran icewithdraw into high cirques, carving fjord labyrinths west of the Andes and leaving proglacial lakes and steppe plateaus to the east.

Postglacial sea-level rise, still ~60–80 m below modern early in the period, flooded coastal benches into ria-like embayments and back-reef lagoons, particularly along Atlantic Brazil and the Caribbean margins, even as the Humboldt upwelling sustained kelp and shell-rich coves on the Pacific side.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Bølling–Allerød (c. 14.7–12.9 ka): Warmer, wetter pulses reforested Amazonian and Orinocan refugia, stitched by major river corridors; Andean hydroclimates stabilized as puna and páramo belts crept upslope. Along the Pacific rim, upwelling cells fueled rich nearshore webs; on the Atlantic side, a still-broad shelf supported expansive strandplains and lagoons.

• Younger Dryas (c. 12.9–11.7 ka): A cool/dry setback narrowed forest corridors, invigorated steppe in leeward interiors, and heightened reliance on littoral and riverine proteins.

• Early Holocene (post-11.7 ka): Monsoons strengthened; Amazonian gallery forests re-expanded and linked; Andean snowlines retreated; estuaries and lagoons from Marajó to Santa Catarina and along Peru–Atacamastabilized as sea level rose toward modern positions.

Subsistence & Settlement

By ~13–12 ka, humans were widely established from Pacific Peru to the Andean forelands and major lowland trunks; settlement was semi-recurrent and water-anchored, with strong coastal–river–valley coupling:

• Pacific littoral (Peru–N. Chile): Coves within the Humboldt Current hosted intensive harvest of shellfish, rockfish, anchoveta, sea lions, seabirds, and seaweeds, likely via raft/dugout logistics along a proto “kelp highway.” Shell scatters and strandline hearths signal repeated use of the same landings.

• Andean valleys & puna: Rock-shelter and terrace hamlets targeted deer, vicuña/guanaco, vizcacha and caviomorph rodents, and wild tubers; riparian stands (e.g., chenopods, amaranths) were increasingly curated and processed on grindstones. Seasonal rounds linked high-puna hunts to valley springs and alluvial plots.

• Amazon–Orinoco lowlands & Guianas: Wet-season camps on natural levees exploited fish, turtles, caimans, capybara, and abundant palm fruits; varzea/igapó mosaics encouraged orchard-garden tending around hamlets. On the Guianas Shield, foragers navigated inselberg–savanna–gallery forest patchworks with broad-spectrum diets.

• Atlantic Brazil strandplains: A still-wide coastal plain nurtured early shell-midden nuclei at estuary mouths and dune-lagoon fringes, where bivalves, crustaceans, finfish, and marine mammal remains attest to repeated feasting and aggregation.

• South America Minor (Patagonia–Fuegia): Along the fjord and channel coasts, foragers exploited kelp-forest seams (mollusks, fish, sea mammals) and likely staged short canoe/raft crossings; east of the Andes, steppe camps organized around guanaco drives, rhea hunts, and lake-margin waterfowl.

Across the continent, communities tethered to refugial nodes—springs, levees, coves, and rock shelters—while maintaining seasonal mobility across adjacent ecozones.

Technology & Material Culture

Toolkits balanced expedient mobility with targeted specialization:

• Lithics: pervasive microlithic flake–blade industries; backed bladelets, scrapers, burins; regional obsidian/siliceous networks in Andean forelands and Patagonian steppes.

• Aquatic gear: bone gorges and harpoons, composite points, net floats/sinkers; stake-weirs and basket traps emergent on salmon-bearing and whitefish rivers by late in the period.

• Processing tools: grindstones/querns in Andean and lowland contexts for seeds, tubers, and pigment; shell adzes in littoral zones.

• Containers & clothing: organic carriers (gourds, bark, skin), early netting and twined bags; tailored hides; ochre for body/ritual use; shell/seed/teeth ornaments in burials and feast contexts.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

Deglaciation and rising seas reconfigured, but did not diminish, connectivity:

• Pacific kelp-forest corridor: cove-to-cove and island-to-island movements along Peru–N. Chile’s productive littoral.

• Andean valley strings: rock-shelter nodes at springs and passes (Cochabamba, Puna de Atacama, Cuzco–Titicaca arc) linked high–mid–low altitude resource zones.

• Amazon–Orinoco trunks: Solimões–Madeira–Xingu–Tapajós–Negro–Orinoco served as driftways and portage chains, coupling previously isolated forest refugia.

• Atlantic strandlines: broad Brazilian shore supported early along-shore movement between lagoon fisheries and stone/palm resources inland.

These braided pathways moved dried fish and meats, palm starch/oils, lithics, pigments, and stories, re-knitting the continent after the LGM.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

Water and stone framed early ritual landscapes:

• Rock shelters in Andean and foreland belts preserved hearths, pigment floors, and engraved/painted panels, marking places of teaching, exchange, and ceremony.

• Shell-mounds on Pacific and Atlantic coasts functioned as feast and ancestor markers, accumulating over generations at favored landings.

• Ochred burials and personal adornments (shell/seed/teeth beads) bespeak lineage memory and emerging territoriality, often at river mouths, levees, and springs.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

Resilience rested on refugia-tethered, multi-sited portfolios:

• Refugium anchoring (lagoons, levees, springs) ensured dependable access to water and food as climate oscillated.

• Broad-spectrum diets—littoral proteins paired with riparian and forest fare—buffered interannual variability, especially through the Younger Dryas cool/dry interval.

• Seasonal scheduling across coast–valley–puna and river–terra firme–floodplain gradients spread risk; early orchard/patch management around camps enhanced reliability.

• Storage of smoked fish and meat, roasted seeds/tubers, and rendered oils sustained longer stays and supported semisedentism.

Long-Term Significance

By 7,822 BCE, deglaciated Andean valleys, re-connected Amazon–Orinoco forests, and stabilizing littorals sustained semi-recurrent camp landscapes and nascent shell-midden nodes.
In the south-cone, dual kelp-edge and steppe economies were firmly in place, poised for the canoe-borne traditions of the Fuegian channels.
Across South America, the operating code of the coming Holocene was already legible: water-anchored, broad-spectrum subsistence; mobility braided to refugial anchoring; early plant tending; food storage; and ritualized claims to the enduring places that made life secure.