Importance of natural sciences collections for biocultural research. A view from the Global South.

MONDINI, MARIANA; AGLIANO, FLORENCIA; ARIAS, MARIA FLORENCIA; MOREANO, CAROLINA; PIA, MONICA; COLL, DIANA; NEVEU COLLADO, CAMILA

Oxford

Conferencia; NatSCA Conference & AGM 2024; 2024

NatSCA & Oxford University Museum of Natural History

The Laboratory of Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy of Arid Areas (LaZTA, IDACOR),belonging both to the National Research Council for Scientific and Technical(CONICET) and the National University of Córdoba (UNC), is part of the publicacademic system in Argentina. It is oriented to support research in human-animalinteractions and in the formation of the archaeological (and fossil generally) record. Tothat aim, it has built a reference collection of modern animal materials, consistingmainly of bones but also of other faunal materials –like hair and faeces– and animaltraces –like bite and digestion marks–. All of these materials and traces have thepotential –although variable– of preserving in the fossil record and are thus necessaryin the reference collection, as they provide important, complementary information onthe past. At the crossroads between social and natural sciences and intersected byhistorical sciences, archaeology is key to unravelling past human-environmentalinteractions, including the long-term roots of the Anthropocene. And natural sciencecollections play a key role in those investigations on the past. Also, they are asignificant reservoir of regional biodiversity, which is part of our biotic heritage, and iskey to preserve in the face of its future loss. Both modern and archaeological bioticcollections are also part of our biocultural heritage, as they inform of past and presenthuman-environmental interactions. For these reasons, it is crucial to preserve thesecollections, and to do it in the countries where they are generated, which is often moredifficult in the lower-rate countries. Some examples from the LaZTA will be shown toillustrate these ideas.