Sequence of human occupation defined from assemblages in deeply stratified deposits at the southern tip of mainland South America, especially Palli Aike and Fell’S Cave. The earliest assemblage (Magellan I) contains fishtail projectile points, considered a hallmark artefact signifying Paleo-Indian activity (seealsoEL Inga). Horse and sloth bones and the remains of three partly cremated dolichocephalic humans, found in association with these points, have produced a single radiocarbon date of c8700 be. A shift from fishtail- towards willow-leaf points (see also A yampitin, Lauricocha) occurs in Magellan II (c8000-4000 be). This probable change in subsistence is also confirmed by the disappearance of Pleistocene megafauna (replaced by modem forms) and accompanying widespread climatic change. Magellan III, occurring in the late 5th to early 4th millennium be, is characterized by the willow-leaf and stemless triangular points and a subsistence base strongly oriented to the hunting of guanaco. The later periods (Magellan IV and V) are ill-defined, but represent a continuing hunting strategy blending into a period of ceramic use which runs well into historic times.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied