Pinturas River Canyon

The Pinturas River Canyon (Spanish: Cañadón Río Pinturas) is a canyon located 160 km from the town of Perito Moreno in Santa Cruz, Argentina. It is home to the Pinturas River, which carved the canyon through eroding the Chon Aike Formation. Native populations inhabited the region, painting many works of rock art, some of which can still be seen today. The most famous of these rock art sites is the Cueva de las Manos, a cave site with ancient art whose creation dates back up to 13,000 years ago. This rock art, and Cueva de las Manos in particular, brings lots of tourism to the canyon.

Pinturas River Canyon
Pinturas River Canyon and the Pinturas River.
Width480 metres (1,570 ft)
Geography
LocationSanta Cruz, Argentina
RiversPinturas River

Geology
Wall of the canyon and Cueva de las Manos.

The canyon is made of ignimbrite,[1] among other volcanic rocks formed during the Jurassic period.[2] It was created through the erosion caused by the Pinturas River, which cut into the Chon Aike Formation to form the canyon.[2]

The Pinturas River runs through the canyon at a height of 240 meters above sea level.[3] The canyon is 270 meters deep and 480 meters wide.[3] The walls of the canyon are nearly vertical,[2] and are formed of low reliefs as well as slopes that are made up of landfall debris and sand.[4]

Climate

During the time of the Paleo-Indians, around the late Pleistocene to early Holocene geological periods, the areas between 400 and 500 meters above sea level formed a microclimate in which the canyon was home to grasslands hospitable to the animals that lived in it.[4] This microclimate included the schinus molle plant, which was useful to native inhabitants for its ability to form resins and adhesives, as well as its use as a source of firewood.[4] The climate was also home to edible vegetables and plants that could be used for medicine; tubers, such as the rush root; and numerous fruits, such as that of the berberis plant.[4]

The current climate of the area of the canyon around Cueva de las Manos is cold and dry,[5] with very low humidity;[6] the area receives a total annual precipitation of less than 20 millimeters (0.79 in) per year.[7] The topography of the canyon prevents the strong westward winds that are natural to the region, making winters in the canyon less severe.[8]

Native settlement

The Pinturas River running through the canyon provided water for herds of guanacos, making the area attractive to Paleoindians.[9] In ancient times, people accessed the canyon through ravines and gorges in the East and West, typically from higher elevations around 600 to 700 meters above sea level.[10] Natives hunted in the area of the canyon because of these plentiful guanaco, which they depended on for their own survival.[11]

See also

References
  1. Aschero, Carlos A. (2018). "Hunting scenes in Cueva de las Manos: Styles, content and chronology (Río Pinturas, Santa Cruz – Argentinian Patagonia)". In Troncoso, Andrés; Armstrong, Felipe; Nash, George (eds.). Archaeologies of rock art: South American Perspectives. London: Routledge. p. 209. doi:10.4324/9781315232782-9. ISBN 9781138292673. OCLC 975369942. S2CID 189442969.
  2. Geuna, Silvana Evangelina; Escosteguy, Leonardo Darío (April 2008). "El Valle del Río Pinturas. La Cueva de las Manos". Anales - Dirección Nacional del Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino (in Spanish). 2 (46): 771–780. hdl:11336/76841. ISSN 0328-2325.
  3. Wallace, Chris (February 2017). Williams, Jo (ed.). Footprint Argentina (8th ed.). Footprint. p. 524. ISBN 9781911082095.
  4. Aschero & Schneier (2021), p. 311
  5. Srur, Ana M.; Villalba, Ricardo; Baldi, Germán (2011). "Variations in Anarthrophyllum rigidum radial growth, NDVI and ecosystem productivity in the Patagonian shrubby steppes". Plant Ecology. 212 (11): 1841–1854. doi:10.1007/s11258-011-9955-6. JSTOR 41508649. S2CID 1008572.
  6. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  7. Wainwright, Ian N.M.; Helwig, Kate; Rolandi, Diana S.; Gradin, Carlos; Mercedes Podestá, M.; Onetto, María; Aschero, Carlos A. (2002). Rock paintings conservation and pigment analysis at Cueva de las Manos and Cerro de los Indios, Santa Cruz (Patagonia), Argentina. pp. 583 & 585. OCLC 938407252. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-05-09. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. World Heritage Papers 13 (PDF). Linking Universal and Local Values: Managing a Sustainable Future for World Heritage. 24 May 2003. p. 159. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  9. Isla, Federico Ignacio; Espinosa, Marcela; Iantanos, Nerina (1 March 2015). "Evolution of the Eastern flank of the North Patagonian Ice Field: The deactivation of the Deseado River (Argentina) and the activation of the Baker River (Chile)". Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie. 59 (1): 119–131. Bibcode:2015ZGm....59..119I. doi:10.1127/0372-8854/2014/0149. hdl:11336/46418. In "New Findings from Department of Geology in Geomorphology Provides New Insights [Evolution of the Eastern flank of the North Patagonian Ice Field: The Deactivation of the Deseado River (Argentina) and the Activation of the Baker River (Chile)]". Science Letter. Atlanta, GA: NewsRX LLC. 1 May 2015. p. 936. Gale A415804207.
  10. Aschero & Schneier (2021), p. 312.
  11. Schobinger, Juan (2016-12-05). The Ancient Americans: a reference guide to the art, culture, and history of pre-Columbian North and South America. Vol. 1. Translated by Evans-Corrales, Carys (1st ed.). Routledge. pp. 39–44, 57–61, 67 & 70. doi:10.4324/978131570375. ISBN 978-0-7656-8034-1. OCLC 967392115.

Bibliography


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