The Settlement of Patagonia: A Matrix Correlation Study

Document Type

Article

Authors

Rolando González José, Unidad de Antropología, Facultad de Biología, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645 (08028), Barcelona, Spain.
Silvia Dahinten, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina., Área de Arqueología y Antropología, Centro Nacional Patagónico (CONICET) Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.
Miquel Hernández, Unidad de Antropología, Facultad de Biología, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645 (08028), Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

Matrix correlation represents an innovative methodology to evaluate the explanatory power of several hypotheses by measuring their correspondence with observed morphological variation. In this paper, we view the origins of Patagonians from a matrix correlation approach. Personal and published data on nonmetric cranial traits were used to estimate a biological distance matrix involving five major groups from Patagonia and two from the northwest and northeast regions of Argentina. To evaluate correspondence with other important factors, we used a geographic distance matrix and four design matrices, representing several patterns of settlement and differentiation. Biological distance was found to be strongly associated with spatial separation; the correlation between geography and nonmetric cranial distances was highly significant. When geographic distance is held constant, correlation between a model representing high levels of heterogeneity between the samples and morphological (nonmetric) variation becomes highly significant.

Recommended Citation

José, Rolando González; Dahinten, Silvia; and Hernández, Miquel (2001) "The Settlement of Patagonia: A Matrix Correlation Study," Human Biology: Vol. 73: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol73/iss2/6