干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The Medanos de Coro National Park (PNMC), Venezuela, has a high density of archaeological sites that witness the Caquetio territorial occupation patterns. There are few studies on the material culture and, to date, no physical-chemical studies of the sites that would indicate the intensity of pre-Hispanic occupation during the contact and the following decades. The cultural characterization of two collection areas (MCa/1-9 and MCa/10-20) and the physical-chemical analysis of the soil in one of them (MCa/1-9) are presented. The collection areas cover 5 and 1.8ha, separated by a distance of 800m. Both contain ceramic materials of Dabarujoide style, unprocessed clay, mollusk shells, charcoal and lithic artifacts, characteristic of settlements from the 14th to 18th centuries. MCa/10-20 contains larger ceramic fragments, with pieces from utilitarian to ritual usage, with evidences of in situ pottery making. In MCa/1-9 the soil properties are modified down to a depth of 36cm, with enrichment of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, cations and carbon, generating a dark-brown azonal Antrosol in this arid region. This, together with the finding of highly fragmented ceramic remains and a high density of malaco-fauna shells, suggests waste disposal in this site. The finding of this Antrosol in an area full of small size sites point to the intensive and/or/prolonged occupation of the active dunes field of the PNMC. Given that uncontrolled tourism threatens the integrity of these sites, their protection and the preservation of the cultural heritage they contain is recommended.