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Sacred Stones in Indian Civilization: with Special Reference to Megaliths

Sacred Stones in Indian Civilization: with Special Reference to Megaliths

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<< Feature Articles >> Pali Aike - Cave or Rock Shelter in Chile

Submitted by C_Michael_Hogan on Wednesday, 26 March 2008  Page Views: 24270

Natural PlacesSite Name: Pali Aike
Country: Chile Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Rio Gallegos  Nearest Village: Monte Aymond
Latitude: 52.110217S  Longitude: 69.706183W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Pali Aike crater as viewed from the western exterior, illustrating the dramatic rise above the scrub plain. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Pali Aike is a prehistoric habitation of native Patagonians on the southeastern part of the Chilean mainland approximately 37 kilometers north of the Bahia Posession. The site was first inhabited by humans approximately 12,000 to 8000 BC, with five cremated human skeletons among the site archaeological recoveries.

The chief habitation sites are lava tubes and other natural caves within the caldera rim of this ancient extinct volcano. The Pali Aike site also gives its name to the enclosing Parque Nacionale Pali Aike. The Pali Aike site combined with the nearby Cueva Fell have been submitted to UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Pali Aike is located within the province XII Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena.

EXPLORATION HISTORY. Pali Aike was first excavated in 1936 by the archaeologist Junius Bird, who found evidence of early Holocene occupation by man in a lava tube emanating from the inside of the north caldera rim. In addition to archaeological recovery of human habitation, evidence of prehistoric megafauna were also found, including the giant sloth and American horse.

In my exploration near the cave openings, I found evidence of fire blackened rock sidewall at elevations of .25 to .50 meters above present ground surface (effectively .50 to 1.25 meters above early Holocene grade, based upon my estimates of wind driven silt accumulation at cave openings).

At the cave orifices I found chert flakes, core tools and one unifacial chopper (all of which I left as found, of course). These tool elements were likely imported from some distance, since the local rock outcrops are of volcanic origin. Areawide soils are in fact predominantly of sand and volcanic ash, peppered with rounded igneous pebbles which likely originated from Pleistocene glacial moraine. I also discovered a remarkable geologic feature or possible geoglyph on a nearby hill to the southwest.

This very large scale concentric circle set was produced by embedded rocks. It is much to far from civilisation to be a modern prank, and the rocks are stubbornly embedded, pointing to ancient origin. Whether this feature is of geologic or anthropomorphic origin, I shall leave to future reseachers, but it is astounding that I can find no prior recording of this feature, whose outer ring exceeds 100 meters in diameter, which would qualify it as one of the world's largest geoglyphs.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECOVERY. The crania recovered at Pali Aike are consistent with northeast Asian Sinodont dental patterns. (Powell, 2005) Detailed analysis of human teeth found at Pali Aike and the proximate Chilean Cerro Sota archaeological site not only reveal a very ancient Paleoindian origin, but also support a remarkable hypothesis that these two sites may contain ancestors of all modern Native American peoples. These findings are supported by the surprisingly narrow suite of dental traits of American Indians. These Pali Aike findings are derived primarily from analysis of tooth root structures, since crowns have generally been damaged by the cremation practices.

Charcoal and ash were also found littering the main cave floor along with bones of the milodon, American horse and guanaco. Large hearth structures were utilized by the early Paleoindians. The lithic materials I found at the cave opening area are consistent with Borrero and Franco's assessment that preforms are associated with the mobile early culture of the Patagonian peoples. (Borrero, 1997) The variety of flora and fauna remains found at Pali Aike are consistent with the recognized low density ancient settlement by Paleoindians of the Patagonian steppes, and the conclusion that highly specialized ecological exploitation was not necessary for early peoples of the Fuegan-Patagonian region.

ENVIRONMENT. The Pali Aike crater rim of porous dark volcanic rock rises approximately90 meters above the base elevation of the surrounding sandy plain. The crater is one of a chain of similar dimensioned volcanic landforms that can be seen clearly on Google Earth stretched along an extent of approximately twenty kilometers; this volcanic field consists of maars and scoria cones. (González-Ferrán, 1995)

The situation among the Patagonian steppes suggests that this locale underwent soil building thoughout the late Pleistocene through glacial advances and wind driven soil accumulation during interglacials. Since the last eruption of Pali Aike, the soil depth likely increased by tens of meters, explaining the apparent burial of the crater peaks. The final glacial retreat in this area occurred approximately 12,000 to 10,000 years before present. (Coronatoa, 1999)

The aeolian processes at the craters of Pali Aike Parque Nacionale have been identified as the best place on earth to study the formation of "wind streaks", (Rodriguez, 2008) large scale wind driven sand deposition plumes that can be viewed from space as a clearly delineated semi-stable geological painting. The planet Mars has a particular abundance of such wind streaks, whose formation has mystified scientists.

The scrub plain supports a surprising abundance of wildlife, including guanaco, fox, rhea and other birdlife, all of which are present in the archaeological recovery of species exploited by the ancient inhabitants of Pali Aike. The arid soil supports a wider than expected panoply of vegetation, dominated by the native flowering shrub "Adesmia boronoides"; however, areas somewhat distant from the crater chain are overgrazed by sheep operations.

The nearest surface water source is Lago Ana situated a few kilometers to the north. This water supply issue suggests that Pali Aike was occupied in the early Holocene when Patagonian Ice Sheet glaciers extended nearby from the north and would have supplied copious meltwater to Pali Aike settlers. These events imply that Pali Aike would not have been a year round encampment from the mid-Holocene onward.

REFERENCES
* Joseph F. Powell (2005) ‘'The First Americans: Race, Evolution and the Origin of Native Americans'‘, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521823501
* Luis Alberto Borrero and Nora Viviana Franco, ‘'Early Patagonian Hunter-Gatherers: Subsistence and Technology'‘, Journal of Anthropological Research, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 219-239
* Oscar González-Ferrán, ‘'Volcanes de Chile'‘ Instituto Geográfico Militar (1995) ISBN 9562020541
* A. Coronatoa, M. Salemmea and J. Rabassa, ‘'Palaeoenvironmental conditions during the early peopling of Southernmost South America (Late Glacial-Early Holocene, 14-8 ka B.P.)'‘, Quaternary International, vol 53-54, Mar. 3, 1999
* J.A.P. Rodriguez, J.Zimbelman, J. Cargel, K.L.Tanaka, A.Yamamoto and S.Sasaki (2008) ‘'The Pali Aike Windstreak Field, Southern Patagonia, Argentina'‘, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX

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Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Secondary lava tube habitation cave in the north wall of the interior of the Pali Aike crater. This cave is situated approximately 70 meters east of the principal cave. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : North wall of the interior of Pali Aike crater, with one of the cave openings visible at the base. Note the wild guanacos grazing inside the crater, a reminder of one of the species hunted by the Paleoindians who lived here. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Hill landform within about 900 meters from Pali Aike crater. A mysterious design of concentric circles is made of embedded rocks. This previously unrecorded feature is either an amazing natural landform or extraordinary ancient geoglyph of approximately 100 meters in diameter. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Projectile points recovered from Pali Aike, photographed on site. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Prehistoric bolas recovered from the Pali Aike site, photographed on site. These grooved stones were attached to cords and used for hunting mammals by throwing and thence entangling the prey's legs with the cords and stones.

Pali Aike
Pali Aike submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Entrance to principal cave or lava tube inside the north wall of the Pali Aike volcanic crater. It was within this cave that the five cremated human skeletons dating to about 10,000 BC were excavated.

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"Pali Aike" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: Pali Aike by C_Michael_Hogan on Tuesday, 25 November 2008
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In paragraph 3 the correct spelling is "Junius Bird" not "Julian Bird"
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Re: Pali Aike by Anonymous on Friday, 28 March 2008
Thanks Michael
Just finished checking your site and you have a very organized array
I also previously posted a comment on the importance of this sites' individual contributors and the value of the exchange of information
This was in reference to keeping the second server and the faster access of material
Chiles' one of my favorite research areas with the desert mummification area
iceman
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