Stable isotopes and diet in complex hunter-gatherers of Paraná River Basin, South America

OTTALAGANO, F; LOPONTE, D

Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Scice

Springer

Lugar: New York; Año: 2015

This paper discusses isotopic analyses carried outon human bone samples corresponding to complex huntergatherersfrom the Paraná River basin in northeasternArgentina. Based on the δ15N and δ13C values obtained, thedietary patterns of 23 individuals recovered from pre-Hispanicarchaeological sites of the Late Holocene are characterized.These sites are associated with the archaeological unit genericallycalled Goya-Malabrigo, which is identified in SouthAmerica over the entire middle basin of the Paraná Riverand on a part of the lower river. The values obtained showdiets based on depleted δ13C proteins linked to the C3 photosyntheticpathway, which is in turn consistent with theisotopic values detected in the main food sources ofthese human groups: freshwater fishes and continentalmammals. The δ15N values and the results of a multivariatemodel also indicate a low consumption of plantfoods. Although archaeobotanical information from thearea has reported maize and other cultigens, the diet ofthe individuals studied was based on animal proteins,especially on freshwater fish. Moreover, the intake ofmaize was not isotopically detectable in the humanbones analyzed.