The Peopling of Patagonia
Read The Peopling of Patagonia and check the IELTS Reading answers. The human settlement of the southern extremity of the Americas has always fascinated prehistorians. Viewed from a global perspective, this was the last major continental land mass to be reached by human beings. The earliest occupat…
Passage preview
The human settlement of the southern extremity of the Americas has always fascinated prehistorians. Viewed from a global perspective, this was the last major continental land mass to be reached by human beings. The earliest occupation of Patagonia carries obvious implications for understanding when the North and South American continents were peopled, because it gives a baseline that all calculations regarding the rate of dispersion of humans throughout both continents must take into account.
Vocabulary from this passage
8 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- call into question verb phrase
To make people doubt whether something is true, reliable or valuable.
In the passage:
Q37 says "doubtful value"; the passage says the evidence "has recently been called into question" (paragraph 6).
Synonyms: cast doubt on, challenge
Opposites: confirm
- cast doubt on verb phrase
To make something seem less certain or less likely to be true.
In the passage:
The Monte Verde dating "casts doubt on the 'late' model" (paragraph 4), the stance language behind Q31.
Synonyms: undermine, question
Opposites: support
- come under scrutiny verb phrase
To be examined closely and critically by others.
In the passage:
Sites "have recently come under fresh scrutiny" (paragraph 5); useful for Writing Task 2 on policy and research.
Synonyms: be investigated, be examined
Opposites: go unnoticed
- contend with verb phrase
To have to deal with a difficult problem or situation.
In the passage:
Supporters of earlier settlement "must contend with the lack of unequivocal evidence" (paragraph 4).
Synonyms: cope with, face
Opposites: avoid
- tenuous adjective
Weak, thin or slight, and not strongly supported.
In the passage:
Settlement of the high country "must have been tenuous at best" (paragraph 5), which supports Q33's NOT GIVEN.
Synonyms: slight, flimsy
Opposites: strong
- unequivocal adjective
Clear and firm, with only one possible meaning or reading.
In the passage:
"The lack of unequivocal evidence for archaeological sites older than around 14,000 years" (paragraph 4).
Synonyms: clear-cut, definite
Opposites: ambiguous
- unsystematically adverb
Without a clear method or plan, so that the result is irregular.
In the passage:
Q37 says "random collection"; the passage says the carbon was "taken unsystematically from many different places" (paragraph 6).
Synonyms: randomly, haphazardly
Opposites: methodically
- vicinity noun
The area close to or surrounding a particular place.
In the passage:
Q40 says "immediate surroundings"; the passage restricts the site to "its direct vicinity" (paragraph 7).
Synonyms: immediate surroundings, neighbourhood
Opposites: distance
Answers with explanations
- 27. C
The paragraph's point is that the earliest occupation of Patagonia matters for **understanding when the North and South American continents were peopled**. It gives a **baseline** for the whole region, so it **impacts on research into the wider region**. Researchers calculate the **rate of dispersion** of humans, not effects on the environment.
- 28. C
Ask what the writer does in this paragraph. He reports **fundamental disagreements** and gives the two sides: some scholars accepted people in the Americas by **20,000 years ago**, others no earlier than **8,000**. That is a summary of a scholarly debate, not a challenge to research or a proposal.
- 29. A
The writer describes the 'late' model as a single advancing wave that is **difficult to take seriously**, then moves straight to the **'early' model**. He mentions the first so he can set it beside the second theory. Speed here is about migration, not research, so the option about research speed is wrong.
- 30. D
The writer calls the 'early' model **the most realistic scenario** because migrants **slowly adapted to the diverse natural habitats**. **Realistic** and the land's **natural habitats** become **consistent with the physical conditions of the land**. Fast migration belongs to the 'late' model, and the writer approves of the 'early' one, so "too random" is wrong.
- 31. B
Look for **Monte Verde**. The site is securely dated to about **12,500 years ago**, which **casts doubt on the 'late' model** of settlement around 8,000 years ago. So it gives supporting evidence for **relatively early settlement**. The doubt is about the model, not about the site's value.
- 32. NO
Look for the **initial human intrusion**. The environment is said to be **similar to that of early post-glacial Europe**. That contradicts **unique**, so the answer is NO.
- 33. NOT GIVEN
The key words are **high country**. The writer says settlement there was **tenuous** and the evidence **scant**, but never says what the migrants ate or that they hunted. Animal bones appear only at Las Buitreras, a different site that the writer cannot link to people. The text says nothing either way, so it is NOT GIVEN.
- 34. NO
**Rock shelters in Argentina and Chile** are the sites in the sentence before. The evidence is **scant**, which might tempt you to say YES, but the writer says it is **reliable evidence ... to confirm the presence of humans by around 11,000 years ago**. So archaeologists did draw a conclusion, and the statement is NO.
- 35. YES
**Moved from place to place in a variety of ways** matches evidence **deposited in caves** by other forces **such as floods or predators**, as well as by people. The writer says this directly, so the answer is YES.
- 36. D
Look for **Chinchihuapi Creek**. The remains were buried in **peat**, which preserves wood **remarkably well**. That gives the box word **good condition**. **Skilled preservation** is wrong because the peat preserved them naturally, not people.
- 37. B
Look for **Los Toldos** and a word for how the samples were taken. The carbon flecks were taken **unsystematically from many different places**, which the box calls a **random collection**. That is why the site is of doubtful value.
- 38. C
Look for **Arroyo Feo**. The artefacts have the **same depth** and the **same origins** as those at Los Toldos, which the box words as **similar properties**. **Fixed date** is tempting because 9,000 years is mentioned, but the gap comes before "and date from".
- 39. H
Look for **Las Buitreras**. **No ... can be made** between samples and human presence is **no way of securely relating any of these remains to human occupation**. **Securely relating** becomes a **reliable connection**.
- 40. J
Look for **Cueva Fell**. Its value is **restricted to its direct vicinity**, and findings cannot be used **further afield**. **Beyond the ...** therefore needs the box phrase for the nearby area: **immediate surroundings**.