Early Holocene Archaeological Context and Assemblages of Ba?o Nuevo 1: A Key Site in Central West Patagonia

The Bano Nuevo 1 site, a cave with paleontological and archaeological deposits located in the eastern steppes of Central West Patagonia, provides a uniquely dry environment that allowed the survival of organic materials that are not common in excavated sites in the region. The remains include paleontological evidence from the late Pleistocene deposits and a series of discontinuous occupational events that spanned the Holocene. However, an assemblage containing the remains of at least 10 human individuals of early Holocene age stands out as a distinctive set of synchronic burials, among the earliest on the continent. This review presents updated information on the studies carried out at the site while discussing them in the frame of other relatable archaeological findings of the early Holocene in the broader region.