42 World Heritage papers42 World Heritage papers HEADWORLD HERITAGES 5 NIO M O UN IM D R T IA A L • P • W L O A I R D L D N H O E M R I E TA IN G O E • PATRIM United Nations World Educational, Scientific and Heritage Cultural Organization Convention Human Origin Sites and the GOBIERNO DE World Heritage Convention in the Americas PUEBLAACCIONES QUE TRANSFORMAN In support of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization VOLUME I Human Origin Sites and the Heritage World in the Convention Americas. I Volume For more information contact: UNESCO World Heritage Centre papers NIO M O UN IM D R T IA A L • P • W L O A I 7, place Fontenoy R D L D N H O E M 75352 Paris 07 SP France R E I TA IN G O Tel: 33 (0)1 45 68 24 96 E • PATRIM Fax: 33 (0)1 45 68 55 70 United Nations World Educational, Scientific and Heritage 9 789231 001406 http://whc.unesco.org HeritageWorld Cultural Organization Convention Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in the Americas HEADS 5 VOLUME I Published in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France and the UNESCO Office in Mexico, Presidente Masaryk 526, Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, 11550 Ciudad de Mexico, D.F., Mexico. © UNESCO 2015 ISBN 978-92-3-100140-6 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Cover Photos: Top photo: Hoyo Negro sinkhole. View to the north © Roberto Chavez Arce / Grupo HN 2013. From left to right: Puntas cola de pescado (fishtail points) © Rafael Suárez; Santa Elina site, Serra de Araras, Brazil © Adriana Schmidt Dias; Hombre de Chimalhuacán I © J. C. Jiménez López. Photos and images presented in the texts are the copyrights of the authors unless otherwise indicated. Supervision, editing and coordination: Nuria Sanz, Editor, Conception, World Heritage Thematic Programme HEADS and Director, UNESCO Office in Mexico Chantal Connaughton, UNESCO Office in Mexico Anjelica Young, UNESCO Office in Mexico Rachel Christina Lewis, UNESCO Office in Mexico Carlos Tejada, UNESCO Office in Mexico José Pulido-Mata, UNESCO Office in Mexico Coordination of the World Heritage Papers Series: Vesna Vujicic-Lugassy, UNESCO Culture Sector Graphic design: Rodrigo Morlesin, UNESCO Office in Mexico Cover design: Rodrigo Morlesin, UNESCO Office in Mexico Printed by Fotolitográfica Argo, S.A. de C.V. Printed in Mexico. This publication was made possible thanks to the ongoing support to the World Heritage Thematic Programme HEADS by the Government of Puebla. Table of Contents Foreword Page 7 Mechtild Rössler Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Foreword Page 9 Nuria Sanz Head and Representative of the UNESCO Office in Mexico Introduction Page 10 Nuria Sanz Head and Representative of the UNESCO Office in Mexico A General Focus 1 Page 20 The Applicability of World Heritage Criteria Page 20 for the First Populations in the Americas Robin Dennell The First North Americans: the State of the Art, 2014 Page 34 James C. Chatters A Focus on Mexico 2 Page 54 Underwater Archaeology and Prehistory: Page 54 the Case of the Cenotes in Mexico Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales et al. Cuevas Prehistóricas de Yagul y Mitla en los Valles Centrales Page 61 de Oaxaca, los cazadores-recolectores y el origen de la domesticación de una dieta mesoamericana Jorge L. Ríos Allier An Overview of Late Pleistocene Faunal Research Page 75 and the Early Peopling of Mexico Eduardo Corona-M. Los primeros grupos humanos en el Centro de México Page 86 J. C. Jiménez López La producción de arte rupestre en el contexto del primer Page 100 poblamiento de México: algunas evidencias tempranas María de la Luz Gutiérrez Martínez Conservation of Palaeontological Sites in Mexico: Page 126 Legal, Research and Communication Measures for Integrated Approaches Felisa J. Aguilar Arellano A Focus on South America 3 Page 134 The First Colonization of Brazil: A Review of the Page 134 Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, Chronologies and Routes Adriana Schmidt Dias A Millenary Habit Evidenced by Palaeoparasitology: Page 147 Perspectives on Methodologies and their Contribution to Understanding Human Dispersals in the Americas Marcia Chame Adaptaciones humanas tempranas y dispersión Page 161 de la población durante la colonización del Río de la Plata y Río Uruguay Rafael Suárez Climate, Catastrophe and Culture in the Ancient Americas: Page 178 the Case of the Pacific Coast Daniel H. Sandweiss The Outstanding Universal Value of the Monte Verde Page 194 Site and a Comparative Analysis of the Authenticity and Integrity of the Site in a Regional Perspective Tom D. Dillehay Primeras evidencias arqueológicas Page 204 y la ecología de paleopaisajes en Patagonia Francisco Mena Spatial Demarcation of Archaeological Population Page 211 Cores in Southern Patagonia Luis Alberto Borrero Foreword The Americas were the last continents to be colonized, very recently in the two-million-year long history of humankind and were the culmination of a long progression of expansion by Homo sapiens from Africa. However, the process of the peopling of the Americas, while key in the history of humankind, is an area that lacks due recognition. There is comparatively little research on this topic and there is a great need for further investigation to understand the vital role of this process for our human species. The last twenty years have brought about new scientific discoveries and an improved understanding of the peopling of the Americas, how they were first inhabited, how the populations survived and how their evolution led to them colonizing the continents. Much still remains to be researched and learnt. The places related to the origins of humanity in the Americas are underrepresented on the World Heritage List and the importance of ensuring the future recognition, conservation and research of sites related to the process of human evolution, adaptation, dispersal and social development in the continents has never been –more pertinent. The lack of acknowledgment of these sites represents a challenge for the Americas. This publication therefore brings together the best experts in the field, to highlight this crucial process of human history, present its strengths and weaknesses and to establish the need for more scientific research, methodological innovation and improved collaboration on a national, regional and international level. I encourage different institutions and research centres in this field to continue to address this topic for the benefit of future generations. Mechtild Rössler Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre 7 Foreword This publication presents the most up-to-date research on the peopling of the Americas. The studies and discoveries brought to the reader in these articles review the latest developments in this field of knowledge: how the Americas were first experienced, how and where their colonization took place, and what aided the successful development of cultural diversity at the last continental frontier for the human species. This book stems from the international meeting, The First Peopling of the Americas and the World Heritage Convention, held in Puebla, Mexico, from 2 to 6 September 2013. It is thanks to this meeting and the discussions arising from it that a cooperation strategy with the State Government of Puebla is being established by the UNESCO Office in Mexico; this cooperation aims to launch actions to better preserve the heritage of the first peopling of the Americas, where our species, Homo sapiens, put into practice the vast trajectory of human experience they had accumulated thus far. These volumes provide the rationale and arguments for the future recognition, conservation and research of sites linked to the processes of human evolution and diversity in the American continent. This fascinating journey investigates the scientific, cultural, ethological, geographical and historical dimensions of the earliest steps of human development in the Americas, and the earliest American evidence of human ritual, expression and practice. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the invaluable assistance and cooperation of officials from the State Government of Puebla and the Municipality of Puebla for hosting this meeting at the Palafoxiana Library, which was the first public library in the Americas and is recognized as Memory of the World by UNESCO. I also extend my sincerest gratitude to the HEADS Scientific Committee and especially to Professor Robin Dennell for his never-ending dedication and fruitful cooperation in the framework of the HEADS programme. Nuria Sanz Head and Representative of the UNESCO Office in Mexico 9 Introduction HEADS in the Americas Nuria Sanz Head and Representative of the UNESCO Office in Mexico In 1960, Current Anthropology devoted a special issue to the archaeology of the Bering Strait, the gateway to the Americas, with the aim of circumscribing it as the principal entry route into the American continent, opposing other theories such as Paul Rivet’s who insisted, over several decades, on a southern transoceanic austral route.