Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8

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Quaternary International
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The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South

America
Francisco Javier Aceituno a, *, Nicola

s Loaiza a, b
a
Grupo Medioambiente y Sociedad, Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 67 No 53-108, AA 1226 Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
b
Temple University Department of Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA 19119, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a synthesis on the existing of the role of plants on the adaptive strategies of human
Available online xxx groups that settled in Northwest South America since the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. To contex-
tualize the analysis, a brief description of the Colombian Pleistocene sites is presented. The paper pre-
Keywords: sents a broad description of the lithic technology, archaeobotanical record and radiocarbon dates. Plant
Colombia resources played a key role in the settling of human groups in the forests of the Neotropics. Furthermore,
Northwest South America
it is suggested that for some areas there is evidence of cultivation as a strategy to increase the carrying
Early peopling
capacity of the surrounding environment.
Use of plants
Tropical forests
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.
Lithic technology

1. Introduction
Due to its geographical position, Northwest South America,
mostly corresponding to the current Colombian territory, is a
crucial area to address the issues of adaptive strategies, and the
process of early human dispersion in northern South America since
the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. The earliest date was found at
Pubenza (Fig. 1), an open air site located in the lowlands of the
Magdalena River Basin, where mastodon bones have been found
associated with eight stone flakes in a layer dated at 16,460 ± 420
BP (Van der Hammen and Correal, 2001). El Abra, a rock shelter
located 2600 m asl at the Sabana de Bogota (Eastern Cordillera)
(Fig. 1) where archaeologists recovered Holocene faunal remains
associated with unifacial lithic tools dated 12,400 ± 160 BP, is the
second oldest site in Colombia (Correal et al., 1966e1969; Hurt
et al., 1977; Correal, 1986).
The Sabana de Bogota (Fig. 1) has one of the longest and most
complete occupation sequences in Northwest South America,
starting at ca. 12,400 BP through the XVI Century AD (Correal and
van der Hammen, 1977; Correal, 1981, 1986). Regarding the
earliest humans, Correal, the archaeologist who lead the research at
the Sabana de Bogota, suggested that between ca. 11,000 and
10,000 BP, “semi-specialized hunters had adapted to the semi-open
environment of the Bogota highland” (Correal, 1986, p. 119).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: aceitunob@hotmail.com, csfjace@antares.udea.edu.co
(F.J. Aceituno), nloaiza@temple.edu (N. Loaiza).
The high frequency of faunal remains in the sites from Sabana de
Bogota including the Pleistocene megafauna remains (Cuvieronius
hyodon, Haplomastodon sp. and Equus amerhippus sp.) from Tibito
(11,740 ± 110 BP) indicates that hunting was an important activity
that prevailed through the middle Holocene (Correal, 1982, 1986, p.
124e125). The emphasis on hunting was also suggested by Lo
pez
(1999) writing about the middle Magdalena River Basin (Middle
Magdalena) (Fig. 1), where he stated that, “so far, the lithic as-
semblages recovered suggest the existence of a tradition of
specialized hunters that reminds us of the definitions of Paleo-
indian cultures” (Lo
pez, 1999, p. 100). Along with the evidence
found at Sabana de Bogota and Middle Magdalena, the superficial
recoveries of projectile points through Colombia (Lo
pez, 1995, p.
75), forged the widespread idea for Colombian archaeology that the
early human groups focused their economic strategies mainly on
hunting. During the 1960s, Reichel-Domatoff (1997 [1965] p. 40)
argued that Northwest South America environmental conditions
must have determined a strong emphasis on minor species hunting
strategies as well as in gathering during the Paleoindian stage. This
idea challenged the traditional view of Paleoindian human groups
as mainly megafauna hunters and was based on the fact that
neither the amount of projectile points nor the megafauna remains
associated with human activities in Colombia supported that idea.
By the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (ca.10,500 BP), archae-
ological data suggest that the adaptive strategies had strong
emphasis on plant resources. The aim of this paper is to present a
compilation of archaeobotanical and paleoecological data sug-
gesting that, along with strategies such as hunting and perhaps
fishing, plant resources were an important part of the adaptive

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Please cite this article in press as: Aceituno, F.J., Loaiza, N., The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South America,
Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.027
2 F.J. Aceituno, N. Loaiza / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8
Fig. 1. Colombian geography and archaeological areas distribution.
strategies that enabled human settlement and, possibly, the
incipient construction of cultural traditions that spread through
Colombia at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (ca.10,500 BP)
until the early Holocene (ca. 8000 BP) (Aceituno et al., 2013).
2. The role of tropical forests in the early peopling of Central
America and Northwest South America
The Paleoindian evidence found in moist forests in Central and
South America allowed a debate around the role that this environ-
ments had in the peopling of the Neotropics during the final Pleis-
tocene, a time in which environments were different from today's,
mainly due to changes in temperature and rainfall (Piperno and
Pearsall, 1998; Ranere, 2006, 2008). Broadly speaking, the paleo-
ecological data from Central America suggest the existence of
several types of landscapes: montane forest, thorn scrub, savannah,
tropical moist forests, etc. (Snarkis, 1979; Bush and Colinvaux, 1990;
Piperno and Pearsall, 1998; Ranere, 2008). This situation has been
studied in Panama, where the relation between paleoenvironments
and archaeological sites has been analyzed in order to suggest
subsistence strategies in tropical ecosystems for the earliest settlers
of the isthmus (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998; Ranere, 2006). Facing the
assumption that tropical forests must have posed a barrier for hu-
man migrations, Ranere (2006) suggested that human groups must
have taken advantage a wide range of ecosystems, which included
tropical forests. Ranere noted that hunting was the main subsistence
Please cite this article in press as: Aceituno, F.J., Loaiza, N., The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South America,
Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.027
strategy at the beginning. With the decrease of game and de-
mographic increase towards the final Pleistocene, human strategies
shifted towards the exploitation of plant resources. The oldest in-
direct evidence for environmental management comes from a
sediment layer extracted from a core at La Yeguada Lake and dated
between ca 11,000 and 10,000 BP, where charred phytoliths of
grasses and Heliconia were recovered along with an abrupt increase
of the frequency of microscopic charcoal, suggesting forest burning
by human groups that took advantage of the natural resources of
this environment (Piperno, 1995; Piperno and Pearsall, 1998).
For Colombia, the most complete sequence of occupations
comes from the highlands of the Sabana de Bogota (about 500 km
SE of the PanamaeColombia border on the Pacific Ocean, ~2600 m
asl) in an Andean forest in today's environmental classification. The
environmental reconstructions of the Guantiva Interstadial, dated
ca 12,500 to 11,000 BP, indicate that the Andean moist forest that
was replaced by sub-Paramo vegetation during the Abra Intersta-
dial (Correal, 1986; Marchant et al., 2002). The archaeological evi-
dence for this time frame comes from El Abra II, Tequendama I and
Tibito (Table 1) (Correal and van der Hammen, 1977; Correal, 1981,
1986). Faunal remains as well as the associated lithic technology
suggest that hunting was the main economic strategy in the Sabana
de Bogota. There are no direct indicators of edible plant usage.
Nonetheless, Correal (1986, p. 121) mentions the presence of the
pollen record of the Dodoneae plant family towards ca. 10,000 BP
and associates it with forest clearance.
 F.J. Aceituno, N. Loaiza / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8 3

Table 1
14
C dates from Northwest South America at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.

Site Region 14
C date 1s Calib BC/ADa References

Pubenza Río Magdalena 16,400 420 18,830 16,869 Van der Hammen and Correal, 2001
El Jorda
n Cordillera Central 12,910 60 13,724 13,255 Salgado, 1998
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 12,400 160 13,236 12,121 Hurt et al., 1977
Tibito
Sabana de Bogota 11,740 110 11,826 11,312 Correal, 1981
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,920 250 11,358 10,193 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 11,210 90 11,311 10,889 Hurt et al., 1977
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,730 105 10,858 10,564 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 10,720 400 11,370 9371 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,590 90 10,771 10,427 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,460 130 10,744 10,007 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
Torre 46 (Nare) Magdalena medio 10,400 40 10,473 10,125
pez, 2008
Lo
Torre 46 (Nare) Magdalena medio 10,400 60 10,488 10,095
pez, 2008
Lo
La Palestina 2 Magdalena medio 10,400 90 10,613 10,025
pez, 2008
Lo
Torre 46 (Nare) Magdalena medio 10,350 60 10,472 10,016
pez, 2008
Lo
San Juan de Bedout Magdalena medio 10,350 90 10,581 9980
pez, 1989
Lo
La Palestina 2 Magdalena medio 10,300 70 10,448 9872
pez, 2008
Lo
La Palestina 2 Magdalena medio 10,260 70 10,435 9806
pez, 2008
Lo
PIII0I-52 Porce medio 10,260 50 10,225 9818 Otero et al., 2006
La Palestina 2 Magdalena medio 10,230 90 10,293 9670
pez, 2008
Lo
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,150 150 10,293 9317 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,140 100 10,174 9372 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,130 150 10,289 9299 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
El Guatín Cauca medio 10,130 50 10,074 9526 Restrepo, 2013
El Jazmin Cauca medio 10,120 70 10,078 9447 Aceituno and Loaiza, 2007
Sueva I Sabana de Bogota 10,060 90 10,020 9322 Correal, 1979
La Morena Río Medellín 10,060 60 9881 9366 Santos, 2010
San Isidro Altiplano Popaya
n 10,050 100 10,027 9310 Gnecco, 2000
San Isidro Altiplano Popaya
n 10,030 60 9825 9321 Gnecco, 2000
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 10,025 95 10,007 9295 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 9990 100 9880 9272 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
La Palestina 1 Magdalena medio 9820 115 9698 8837 CAIN-OCENSA, 1997 in Lo
pez, 2008
El Jorda
n Central Cordillera 9760 160 9768 8713 Salgado, 1998
Tequendama I Sabana de Bogota 9740 135 9467 8747 Correal and van der Hammen, 1977
66PER001 Cauca medio 9730 100 9371 8797 Cano, 2004
La Morena Río Medellín 9680 60 9275 8837 Santos, 2010
Salento 24 Cauca medio 9680 100 9296 8784 Tabares and Rojas, 2000
Sauzalito Río Calima 9670 100 9291 8782 Bray et al., 1988
Sauzalito Río Calima 9600 100 9258 8720 Bray et al., 1988
La Trinidad I Cauca medio 9542 50 9147 8750 Restrepo, 2013
San Isidro Altiplano Popaya
n 9530 100 9220 8632 Gnecco, 2000
La Selva Cauca Medio 9490 110 9221 8556 Rodríguez, 2002
Gachal
a Sabana de Bogota 9360 45 8755 8538 Correal, 1979
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 9340 40 8730 8532 Hurt et al., 1977
La Trinidad II Cauca medio 9333 65 8759 8421 Restrepo, 2013
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 9325 100 8832 8292 Hurt et al., 1977
La Pochola Cauca Medio 9312 55 8719 8420 Aceituno refer per.
Sauzalito Río Calima 9300 100 8780 8295 Bray et al., 1988
Pen~ a Roja Río Caqueta
9250 140 8849 8211 Cavelier et al., 1995; Gnecco, 2000
Ge
nova Cauca medio 9230 40 8561 8312 Restrepo, 2013
La Montan ~ ita Cauca medio 9230 50 8572 8302 Restrepo, 2013
Pen~ a Roja Río Caqueta
9160 90 8612 8243 Cavelier et al., 1995; Gnecco, 2000
Pen~ a Roja Río Caqueta
9125 250 8879 7609 Mora, 2003
Sitio 045 Porce medio 9120 90 8616 8202 Castillo and Aceituno, 2006
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 9050 470 9554 7056 Hurt et al., 1977
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 9025 90 8476 7938 Hurt et al., 1977
El Jazmín Cauca medio 9020 60 8322 7970 Integral, 1997
Sitio 021 Porce medio 8990 80 8380 7935 Castillo and Aceituno, 2006
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 8810 430 9177 7001 Hurt et al., 1977
El Abra II Sabana de Bogota 8760 350 8818 7027 Hurt et al., 1977
El Recreo Río Calima 8750 160 8253 7548 Herrera et al., 1992
Galindo I Sabana de Bogota 8740 60 7972 7597 Pinto, 2003
Nuevo Sol Cauca medio 8740 50 7952 7607 Restrepo, 2013
La Selva Cauca medio 8680 60 7871 7586 Aceituno and Loaiza, 2007
39 El Recreo Cancha Cauca medio 8550 60 7683 7497 Herrera et al., 2011
Pen~ a Roja Río Caqueta
8510 110 7826 7292 Llanos, 1997
39 El Recreo Cancha Cauca medio 8480 40 7586 7497 Herrera et al., 2011
Pen~ ones de Bogota

Magdalena medio 8480 40 7586 7497
pez, 2008
Lo
Salento 21 Cauca medio 8430 100 7603 7186 Tabares and Rojas, 2000
El Antojo Cauca medio 8380 90 7237 7187 Integral, 1997
Neusa Sabana de Bogota 8370 90 7580 7184 Rivera, 1991
PIIIOP-59 Porce medio 8340 40 7520 7313 Cardona et al., 2007
Checua Sabana de Bogota 8200 110 7521 6913 Groot, 1992
La Chillona Cauca medio 8200 40 7328 7078 Restrepo, 2013
(continued on next page)

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4 F.J. Aceituno, N. Loaiza / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8
Table 1 (continued )
Site Region 14
C date
San Germ
an II Cauca medio 8136
La Pochola Cauca medio 8095
~ a Roja
Pen

Río Caqueta 8090
39 El Recreo Cancha Cauca medio 8030
a
All calibrated results have 2 sigma calibration with program Calib Rev 7.0.0 (data set used: intCal3.14c).
The amount of data to evaluate the relation between early
peopling and tropical environments in Colombia is still scarce, and
most of the earliest dates are closer to 10,000 BP. The ecological
conditions at Middle Magdalena (ca. 150 m asl) have not been well
established, but it is assumed that the areas where archaeological
sites older that ca.10,000 BP are located were covered by lowland

pez, 1999). For this region, the archaeolog-
tropical rain forests (Lo
ical record is composed exclusively of lithic technology that has
been associated with hunting activities, probably influenced by the
fact that it is the Colombian region where the highest amount of
projectile points has been recovered (Lo
pez, 1995, 1999). None-
theless, the forest coverage that is assumed may suggest that there
should have been some form of exploitation of plant resources that
has not been clearly identified.
At the Middle Cauca (Fig. 1), in the Central Cordillera (~1600 m
asl), pollen cores recovered suggest that by 10,120 BP (the time of
the earliest archaeological evidence), human groups encountered
an evergreen montane forest, resembling today's classification, but
with a larger presence of cold weather plant taxa (Aceituno and
Loaiza, 2007; Mercado, 2011). Further south along the Central
Cordillera, at the Popayan Plateau (Fig. 1) (~1650 m asl), environ-
mental reconstruction using pollen cores extracted from the San
Isidro site suggest that the plant coverage was evergreen montane
forests by ca.10,300 BP when the site was first occupied.
The Sabana de Bogota, Middle Magdalena, Middle Cauca, and
Popayan Plateau data are very important because they show the
important role that forests played in human dispersions in the
Colombian Andes. Pollen records as well as plant residues extracted
from lithic tools are the best evidence we have on early plant usage
for the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, a time characterized by
climatic and ecosystem changes that involved the reduction of
open areas and the expansion of tropical forests (Piperno and
Pearsall, 1998; Marchant et al., 2002).
3. Plant resources and human settling during the early
Holocene
By the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 10,000 BP) there is an
increase in the frequency of archaeological sites in the Colombian
Andes. The only non-Andean site found of that age is Pen ~ a Roja
(350 m asl) (Fig. 1) located in the middle Caqueta River Basin (a
tributary of the Amazon River) (Cavelier et al., 1995). Broadly
speaking, this distribution has been interpreted by Aceituno et al.
(2013) as an indicator of population expansion along the river
valleys that cross the Cordilleras of the northern Andes, as humans
were adjusting to the newer environmental conditions.
The archaeological record of the early Holocene in Northwest
South America is characterized by a) the spread distribution of sites
through the Cordilleras, b) the occupational redundancy (reoccu-
pation) of sites, c) a lithic technology associated with broad spec-
trum economies, and d) the presence of microbotanical remains on
stone tools.
In southeast Colombia at the Calima river basin (Fig. 1) in the
Western Cordillera (~1750 m asl), two sites were found in ever-
green montane forests, Sauzalito and El Recreo, dated between ca.
Please cite this article in press as: Aceituno, F.J., Loaiza, N., The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South America,
Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.027
1s Calib BC/ADa References
65 7348 6628 Aceituno and Loaiza, 2007
55 7299 7587 Aceituno and Loaiza, 2007
60 7301 6823 Mora, 2003
80 7177 6686 Herrera et al., 2011 a
9700 and 8800 BP (Table 1) (Salgado, 1988e1990). In both sites,
archaeologists recovered plant processing tools such as unifacial
flakes, grinding bases, handstones, and hoes that may have been
hafted (Herrera et al., 1988; Salgado, 1988e1990). This tool kit was
associated with several activities such as soil removal for cultiva-
tion, tuber exploitation, and extraction of starchy hearths of palms,
and was important in challenging the ruling Paleoindian model
(Cardale et al., 1989; Gnecco and Salgado, 1989). The recovery of
charred seeds of palms and Persea sp., along with palm, bamboo,
and maranta phytoliths supported the idea that plants played a key
role on the human economic strategies in this region (Piperno,
1985; Piperno and Pearsall, 1998). On a larger scale, Calima data,
combined the data from Panama with lithic technology associated
to the Tropical Forest Archaic (Ranere, 1980, p. 35), strengthens the
idea that human activities started shifting towards plant processing
at the beginning of the Holocene.
South of Calima, at the Popayan Plateau (Central Cordillera) lies
the site of San Isidro, (Fig. 1) in evergreen montane forest, and dated
between 10,050 ± 100 and 9530 ± 100 BP (Table 1) (Gnecco, 2000,
2003). The lithic material recovered at San Isidro consists of thou-
sands of chert artifacts and some obsidian, composed of unre-
touched and retouched flakes, lanceolate bifaces and preforms, as
well as plant processing tools (Gnecco, 1994, 2000, 2003; Gnecco
and Mora, 1997; Mora and Gnecco, 2003). This last class of tools
includes edge grounded cobbles (9), flat mills (5), and a polished
axe (Gnecco, 2000). In addition to the artifacts, thousands of char-
red seeds were found that included Persea (cf. americana), Erythrina
(cf. edulis), Caryocar, Virola, several kinds of palms including Acro-
comia (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998; Gnecco, 2000), as well as rinds of
Lagenaria sp. (Gnecco, 2003; Gnecco and Aceituno, 2006). From an
edge ground cobble, starch grains from cf. Xanthosoma/Ipomoea
and/or Manihot, and Maranta (cf. arundinacea), as well as grasses
and legumes, were identified (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998).
According to Gnecco (2000, 2003) people at San Isidro were
doing artificial selection on preferable resources, cultivating
selected species of plants. Pollen of colonizer species such as
Plantago and grasses were interpreted as evidence of ecosystem
alteration in order to create open areas to concentrate resources,
following Posey's idea of resource islands (Gnecco, 2003; Gnecco
and Aceituno, 2006, p. 93). Plants concentration was a strategy
that aimed to increase the carrying capacity of tropical ecosystems,
anticipating the establishment of agriculture (Gnecco, 2000, 2003).
Gnecco (2000) inferred that San Isidro inhabitants were practicing,
perhaps since the final Pleistocene, a behavior he described as
agrilocality: a strategy that entails selective plant manipulation and
cultivation.
Middle Cauca is located to the north (Fig. 1). It lies in the Middle
Basin of the Cauca River that separates the Central and Western
Cordillera. Over twenty sites dating from the Pleistocene/Holocene
transition to the middle Holocene have been found in the Western
Cordillera towards the central part of Middle Cauca (Table 1)
(Tabares and Rojas, 2000; Rodríguez, 2002; Cano, 2004; Tabares,
2004; Aceituno and Loaiza, 2007; Cano, 2008), seven of which
have occupations dating between ca. 10,000 and 8000 BP. All seven
sites are located between 1400 and 1600 m asl in a wet premontane
 F.J. Aceituno, N. Loaiza / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8 5

Fig. 3. A- Handstones: 1) El Jazmin Block 3 Level 15 (dated between 7080 ± 50 and

5625 ± 50 BP); 2) La Pochola Block 1 Level 13 code 733 (dated between 6903 ± 45 and
6743 ± 45 BP. Starch grains extracted see Table 2); 3) San German Block 1 Level 9
(dated 8136 ± 65). B- Milling Stones: 1) La Pochola Block 1 Level 12 (dated 6743 ± 45);
2) El Jazmin Block 3 Level 16 (dated between 7080 ± 50 and 5625 ± 50 BP).

For Middle Cauca, there is also an important record of starch

grains recovered from stone tools, supporting the importance of
plants in the settlement of this region. For the time frame between
ca. 10,000 and 8000 BP starch grains have been analyzed for three
sites, El Jazmin, La Pochola, and La Selva. Even though starch grain
analysis is still in progress we have preliminarily identified Dio-
scorea sp. (Fig. 4a) associated with a date of 8712 ± 60 BP (La Selva),
Phaseoulus grains (Fig. 4b) (not the domesticated species) associ-
ated with dates of 8095 ± 55 BP (La Pochola) and 8712 ± 60 BP (La
Selva), and Calathea sp. associated with a date of 8660 ± 55 BP (El
Jazmín) (Dickau, 2012 personal communication).
North of the Middle Cauca sites along the Central Cordillera lies
the Porce River Basin (Fig. 1), where five sites dated between 10,260
BP and 8000 BP are located. From south to north, La Morena
(~2050 m asl) (Table 1) is located in an evergreen Andean area
(Santos, 2010) in the Medellin River Valley (Fig. 1), named Porce
river as it travels further north. The remaining four sites (Site 52,
041, 021, and 59) (Table 1) are located on a tropical rainforest below
1000 m asl (Castillo and Aceituno, 2006; Cardona, 2012; Otero and
Santos, 2012). Site 52 is dated 10,260 ± 50 BP, and has yielded three

Fig. 2. 1. Hoes: 1) El Jazmín Block 1 Level 9 (code 433); 2) 021 (code 021-444); 3) La
Pochola Block 1 square B3 Level 16 (code 282); 4) El Jazmín (superficial recollection);
5) 059 Block 1, square 2A Level 6 (code 34 308); 6) 021 (code 021-181); 7) 045 (code
45-267); 7) 059 Block 1 square C1 Level 7 (code 8-496).

forest life zone (Espinal, 1990, p. 65). In broad terms, the lithic
technology basically consists of simple flakes, axes/hoes (Fig. 2: 1, 3,
4) hand stones, and milling bases manufactured on local volcanic
rocks (Fig. 3: A, B). In addition to this, the lithic assemblage found at
El Antojo site is composed by thousands of quartz flakes as well as a
preform. Recently, two stemmed projectile points have been
recovered in excavations, and one of them has been dated between Fig. 4. Starch grain. a) Dioscorea spp. La Selva (code 90); b) Phaseolus spp. La Pochola
ca. 8000 BP and 8500 BP (Herrera et al., 2011). (code 762).

Please cite this article in press as: Aceituno, F.J., Loaiza, N., The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South America,
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6 F.J. Aceituno, N. Loaiza / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8
chert tools (Otero and Santos, 2012, p. 60e62) that have been
associated to the Middle Magdalena based on the raw materials and
the technology (Aceituno et al., 2013). Also associated with the
Middle Magdalena, two projectile points manufactured on chert
were recovered from surface collections in the Medellin River
Valley (Aceituno et al., 2013). The other sites display technology
associated with Calima and Middle Cauca, described in detail
elsewhere (Aceituno, 2001) (Fig. 2: 2,5,6,7,8).
The main archaeobotanical evidence presented for this region is
the pollen record, and it is not clear in terms of directly indicating
plant use. Palm pollen has been identified at 021 and La Morena. At
La Morena, Phaseolus sp. pollen was identified (Santos, 2010).
Starch grains identified as Disocorea sp. dated between ca.10,000
and 9500 BP were also recovered (Santos, 2010). Most of the data
from the Porce River Basin date only to the middle Holocene, but
nonetheless they support the argument that plants played a very
important role in the human settlement of the northern Andes.
Outside the Andes in the middle Caqueta River Basin (Amazon
Basin) is the open air site Pen ~ a Roja (Fig. 1), dated between 9250
and 8100 BP (Table 1) (Cavelier et al., 1995; Gnecco and Mora, 1997;
Mora, 2003, p. 102; Mora and Gnecco, 2003). The lithic assemblage
in the preceramic levels was composed of unifacial flakes, chop-
pers, drills, handstones, milling stones, hammers, and anvils man-
ufactured on local materials such as chert, quartz, and igneous
rocks (Cavelier et al., 1995, p. 31e32). Thousands of charred seeds
and other macrobotanical remains belonging to different genera of
palm trees, as well as wild fruit remains identified as Anaueria
brasiliensis, Parkia multijuga, Inga spp., Passiflora quadrangularis,
and Caryocar spp. were also recovered at this site (Morcote et al.,
1998). It has been suggested that the large amount of charred
palm seeds suggest that this kind of plants were likely the subject of
some form of selective management (Cavelier et al., 1995, p. 36e41;
Morcote et al., 1998). Furthermore, the identification of Cucurbita
sp., Lagenaria siceraria, and Calathea sp. through phytoliths suggest
that these foreign plants were carried to this evergreen wet envi-
ronment for cultivation (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998, p. 204e205).
4. Discussion
The archaeobotanical record recovered since the 1990s suggests
that plant resources played a key role in the territorial expansion
and settling of human populations through Colombia. The data
have enhanced our ability to understand the adaptive strategies of
human groups from ca. 10,500 BP, the Pleistocene/Holocene tran-
sition, when archaeological sites start to become more frequent.
Prior to this date archaeological data is scarce, and does not allow
understanding of the role of plants in the ecological strategies of
human groups.
For the sites predating ca. 10,500 BP associated with the Pale-
oindian stage for Colombian prehistory (Reichel-Dolmatoff, 1965),
human groups were portrayed as specialized megafauna hunters
based on lithic and limited zooarchaeological records (Correal,
1986; Lo
pez, 1999). Traceological analysis done by Nieuwenhuis
(2002, p. 66) on 56 stone artifacts from zone I of Tequendama
(Sabana de Bogota) dated between ca. 11,000 and 10,000 BP
concluded that 5 (9%) used wood, bone, and dry skin. The analysis
did not suggest any further plant usage for this timeframe.
For the case of Middle Magdalena, the continuity in lithic
technology and the absence of megafauna in the archaeological
record have been used as arguments to doubt the existence of
specialized megafauna hunters in this region of Colombia (Otero
and Santos, 2002). Several lines of evidence suggest that the hu-
man groups settling the Middle Magdalena had broader economic
strategies that included fishing as well as hunting and gathering
(Otero and Santos, 2002). Traceological analysis on Middle
Please cite this article in press as: Aceituno, F.J., Loaiza, N., The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South America,
Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.027
Magdalena stone tools has not been clear, mainly due to chrono-
logical issues (most come from surface collections). Nieuwenhuis
(2002) extracted starch grains from two tools without further
identification. The other tools have evidence of skin and wood work
associated with game butchering and fishing, supporting Otero and
Santos (2002) in their rejection of the specialized megafauna
hunters hypothesis and their support for a broad spectrum econ-
omy that used the river ecosystems of the Middle Magdalena.
Regardless of the fact that more specialized analysis are required
to be able to draw more precise conclusions, the existing results
support Reichel-Domatoff's (1997 [1965] p. 40e41) idea that, due to
the environmental conditions of Northwest South America, early
inhabitants were likely to practice broad spectrum economies, that
differed from the classic Paleoindian idea. Nonetheless, we are far
from understanding in detail human economic strategies before
ca.10,500 BP due to the scarce amount of data as well as the small
amount of specialized analyses that have been applied on the
existing evidence. The evidence suggest that, even though hunting
was an important strategy for the earliest inhabitants on Northwest
South America, it was not aimed only at big game and it probably
included a wide range of medium and small species, as well as some
fishing in the case of the Middle Magdalena.
Starting at about ca.10,500 BP, the general picture of Colombian
prehistory becomes clearer, as the amount of sites and evidence
increase. Between ca. 10,500 and 8000 BP, lithic technology and
archaeobotanical evidence strongly suggest that plant resources
played a very important role in the economic strategies of human
groups settling in the forests (mainly on the Andes) of Northwest
South America.
Aceituno et al. (2013) argue that the increase in site frequency
after the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (ca. 10,500 BP) is associ-
ated with the expansion of human populations to the inter-Andean
valleys. This expansion happened at a time of environmental
changes that in broad terms entailed the expansion of tropical
forests (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998). The lithic technology, as well as
the archaeobotanical evidence recovered from several Andean re-
gions (Popayan, Calima, Middle Cauca, Porce River Basin, and
Medellin River Basin) and Pen ~ a Roja (Middle Caqueta River Basin),
suggest that this expansion's success was in part due to the
increasing reliance on tropical plant resources. All these data sug-
gest some form of plant management that likely included selection
and protection.
The evidence of plant usage has led to discussions about culti-
vation and early domestication. There is some evidence that sug-
gests the idea of some form of cultivation in areas near Calima,
Popayan, Middle Cauca, and Pen ~ a Roja. For Calima, the authors have
interpreted the hoes as indicators of plot preparation for cultivation
(Cardale et al., 1989; Gnecco and Salgado, 1989). For Popayan,
several lines of argument have been used including the pollen of
colonizer plant species along with edible foreign plants that
required human intervention for their geographic dispersion such
as Lagenaria sp., cf. Ipomoea/Manihot (Gnecco and Mora, 1997;
Gnecco, 2003). Gnecco (2003) suggests that Persea americana
may have been domesticated in Popayan based on the size of the
seeds recovered. Despite the fact that the logic of the arguments is
very structured, stronger data are needed. The palynological
interpretation is based on very few plant species, when normally
pollen-based reconstructions take into account many different
kinds of plants to establish ecological relations that can explain
changes or stasis that may or may not be due to anthropic issues.
When pollen is extracted from archaeological sites, it is harder to
determine if percentage changes are due to activities related to
plant cultivation or merely to open spaces for camp sites. It would
be desirable to reexamine some of the preliminary starch grain
identifications and compare them with the more robust databases
 F.J. Aceituno, N. Loaiza / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e8
existing today to be able to confirm genera such as Manihot and
Ipomoea.
For the Middle Cauca, the starch grains recovered from stone
tools supports the idea that access to carbohydrate rich resources
was a central issue in the human adaptation to tropical environ-
ments (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998, p. 53). However, unlike Popayan,
for the Middle Cauca more caution is required concerning the
assumption that the archaeobotanical record can be directly
attributed to cultivated plants. For the time frame that concerns us,
the pollen record displays evidence of forest disturbances, but they
cannot be directly assumed as evidence for plot preparation for
plant cultivation. Furthermore, there are no edaphological studies
that may suggest soil preparation for cultivation. Nonetheless, we
consider as a likely the hypothesis suggesting that since the Pleis-
tocene/Holocene transition human settlers were planting wild
plants in areas near their camps, aiming to optimize collection
times, as a strategy to counteract the fact that in tropical environ-
ments there is a dispersed pattern of wild food plants, meaning low
return rates (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998).
The case of Pen ~ a Roja is very interesting because it has solid
evidence of plant cultivation reaching to ca. 9300 BP. On the one
hand there are thousands of macrobotanical remains of palm trees
that clearly suggest the intentional use and perhaps the creation of
patches of this resource (Gnecco and Mora, 1997; Morcote et al.,
1998; Gnecco, 2003). On the other hand, the identification of
phytoliths of foreign plants (Cucurbita, Lagenaria siceraria, and
Calathea sp.) introduced to the region from drier environments is
clear evidence for cultivation (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998, p.
204e205).
For both Popayan and Pen ~ a Roja, archaeologists have argued
that plant cultivation was being done in anthropic patches created
for that purpose in the local environments (Piperno and Pearsall,
1998; Gnecco, 2003. This case is supported by the finding of
foreign plants that depended on human transportation and intro-
duction to the environments where the archaeological sites are
found, along with indicators of anthropic alteration of the nearby
campsites. Although the data from Porce River, Middle Cauca, and
Calima require more care with inferences, the evidence presented
suggests some form of local plant usage that strengthens the idea
that people were increasing the carrying capacity of the natural
environments by practicing some form of cultivation since the
Pleistocene/Holocene transition.
5. Conclusions
The recovery of archaeobotanical remains from northern South
American sites dating back to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition
has strongly suggested that plant resources played an important
role on the human settling on tropical forests and on expansion to
the Andean regions.
The data before ca.10,500 BP is not robust enough as to allow us
to have a detailed picture about the lifestyles of the human groups
that entered South America through Panama. The earliest sites from
the Sabana de Bogota are still the reference to understand the
economic strategies of the first Colombian inhabitants. Regarding
the traditional idea of specialized megafauna hunters associated to
the earliest human groups, nowadays archaeologists are suggesting
that broad spectrum economies more likely resemble the strategies
of the first peoples. This idea is supported by the scarcity of
megafauna remains (only Tibito has megafaunal remains associated
with anthropic evidence) compared to middle and small game, the
unifacial lithic technology, as well as recent interpretations of
specialized analyses. At present, with no specialized microbotanical
analysis done on the evidence predating 10,500 BP, we cannot asses
the role of plants in the earliest inhabitants' economic strategies.
Please cite this article in press as: Aceituno, F.J., Loaiza, N., The role of plants in the early human settlement of Northwest South America,
Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.06.027
7
Between the Pleistocene/Holocene transition and the early
Holocene (ca. 10,500 and 8000 BP), the increasing number of sites,
the characteristics of lithic technology, and the recovered plant
remains, suggest an important change in the economic strategies of
human groups. The number and location of archaeological sites
suggest that human groups were settling in the forests of the sub-
Andean valleys of Colombia (Aceituno et al., 2013). There is also
evidence of movements into other regions, as well as the trans-
portation and introduction of foreign plants that were then brought
under cultivation, as at Pen~ a Roja (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998).
All the data presented above strongly suggest that plant re-
sources played a key role in the settling of human groups in the
forest environments in the Neotropics during the Pleistocene/Ho-
locene transition. Several authors argue that some plants are
foreign to some of the regions they are found, as evidence of
transportation and cultivation. Even though this practice follows
the behavioral ecology model of increasing the carrying capacity of
tropical environments suggested elsewhere (Piperno and Pearsall,
1998), we think that for Colombian archaeology we need more
lines of evidence as well as detailed specialized analysis to make a
stronger case for widespread cultivation practices starting at the
Pleistocene/Holocene transition.
Excluding Pubenza, Sabana de Bogota, and Middle Magdalena,
all the archaeological sites can be identified with Ranere's (1980)
Tropical Forest Archaic, consisting of behaviors adapted to trop-
ical forest resources, developed in the Neotropics at the beginning
of the Holocene (and in our case extended to the Pleistocene/Ho-
locene transition), that entailed the increasing reliance on plants
without completely forgetting the faunal resources (although ab-
sent from the archaeological record). The selective use of some
plants during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition through the early
Holocene preceded the development of horticulture as the main
economic strategy in Northwest South America.
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