De Beringia a América del Sur: modelos, asunciones y olvidos. Notas acerca del poblamiento de América

Addressing the human peopling of South America requires an understanding of the case of North America, including the alternative routes suggested by different dispersal models. Accordingly, it is useful to evaluate both the assumptions and implications behind current peopling models, even when South America is rarely mentioned. One result of this discussion is that the dispersal of humans into South America should not be viewed as a linear extension of the peopling of North America, given that both innovations and divergences are expected for populations that have previously interacted with different geographies and resources. The scarcity of basic information at the crucial entry places makes it difficult to evaluate and improveme those models. The age of the peopling process is one of the most debated issues, for which the strength and quality of the available evidence is central. We also discuss some methodological factors implicated in the construction of the different temporal frameworks and the controversies surrounding them.