Our goal is to study the spatio-temporal changes in human demographic density in Northwest Patagonia and central Chile throughout the Late Pleistocene-Holocene using geo-referenced absolute dates. Given the heterogeneous environmental and cultural characteristics of this region, differences in the demographic dynamics across geographic areas are expected. Using 1,284 absolute dates we explored different null and continuous piecewise linear (CPL) models of regional population change. We also estimated density curves along with a local geometric growth rate analysis. The best fit model was a flexible CPL model, showing an initial increase in population density between ca. 15,500–12,500 years BP, a second rise after 6,500 years BP and a third increase after 2,500 years BP, although disparate spatio-temporal changes in the relative density were found. These results were robust when the effect of potential biases was considered –e.g., dates with large errors, marine-reservoir and old-wood effects– and the frequency distribution of absolute dates and sites were estimated. We observed significant spatio-temporal changes in human population density, which might be related to the complex environmental and cultural changes: the megafaunal extinction, the incorporation of marine resources and the acquisition of techniques for cultivating and processing food. The results of this study remark that, compared to other types of data, the use of absolute dates allows paleo-demographic reconstructions at regional geographical scales with higher spatial and temporal resolution.

我们的目标是使用地理参考绝对日期研究整个晚更新世-全新世期间巴塔哥尼亚西北部和智利中部人口密度的时空变化。鉴于该地区的异质环境和文化特征，预计不同地理区域的人口动态会存在差异。使用 1,284 个绝对日期，我们探索了区域人口变化的不同零和连续分段线性 (CPL) 模型。我们还估计了密度曲线以及局部几何增长率分析。最佳拟合模型是灵活的 CPL 模型，显示人口密度在ca之间的初始增加。15,500-12,500 年 BP，在 6,500 年 BP 后第二次上升，在 2,500 年 BP 后第三次上升，尽管发现了相对密度的不同时空变化。当考虑到潜在偏差的影响时，这些结果是稳健的——例如，具有大误差的日期、海洋水库和老木效应——并且估计了绝对日期和地点的频率分布。我们观察到人口密度的显着时空变化，这可能与复杂的环境和文化变化有关：大型动物灭绝、海洋资源的整合以及食品种植和加工技术的获得。本研究结果表明，与其他类型的数据相比，