International audience ; In South America. evidence of human occupation dates back to 14,600 calibrated years BP (14.6 ka). Yet, important areas such as the Atacama Desert, between latitude 17 degrees to 21 degrees S (northern Atacama), lack occupations older than 11.5 ka. Current hyperarid conditions in the Atacama have dissuaded many researchers from considering this region as a possible territory for Pleistocene-Holocene peoples. Paleoecological data, however, have suggested increased availability of water along the western slope of the Andes from 17.5-9.5 ka. Thus, we systematically searched for rodent middens and paleowetlands in the large canyons of the Andean Precordillera as well as the interfluves (1,000-3,000 masl). As a result, we identified specific habitats favorable for early human settling. This interdisciplinary and predictive methodological model, summarized in this pope!; allowed us to identify several sites. Among these, Quebrada Mani 12 is the first Pleistocene-Holocene human occupation (similar to 11.9 a 12.7 ka) known from the northern Atacama.