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Chapter 4 - The First Inhabitants: 12000–6000 BC

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2024

Karen Olsen Bruhns
Karen Olsen Bruhns
Affiliation:
San Francisco State University
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Summary

The first inhabitants of South America came from North America down the Central American isthmus (or, perhaps, along the coast in canoes) at ca. 15,000 BC. They rapidly moved into a wide range of ecosystems, including very high altitudes in the Andes and the tropical rain forest and developed numbers of new strategies for survival. Including hunting of both herd animals and megafauna, seacoast fishing and gathering, and in the northern Andes, began to improve plant species, leading eventually to domestication.

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Ancient South America , pp. 44 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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