New Archaeological Evidences from the Late-Pleistocene/Early-Holocene Paso Otero 5 Site (Pampean Region, Argentina)

MARTÍNEZ, G., M. A. GUTIERREZ Y J. L. PRADO

Current Research in the Pleistocene

Center for the Study of the First Americans, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University. 4352 TAMU

Lugar: College Station, Tx; Año: 2004 vol. 21 p. 16 - 18

8755-898X

The goal of this paper is to update the information recovered from the site. As part of a broader archaeological project, data on fauna, lithics, stratigraphy, chronology, pollen, silicophytoliths, diatoms, stable isotopes on gastropods, geoarchaeology, taphonomy, and diagenesis have been recovered (Martínez et al. 2003). In this paper we present preliminary results of faunal and lithic analyses, present new 14C ages, and discuss the 14C chronology in light of bone diagenesis and preservation. Analyses of other materials are in process. The preliminary results presented in this paper shed new light on faunal diversity during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The presence of at least 10 species of megamammals is explained by the human reoccupation of the same place and by the possibility of bone scavenging of nearby carcasses. The large amount and variety of burnt/calcined and mixed thermal alteration stages of bones (Joly 1999–2000) are the result of using megamammals as a food resource and their bones as fuel (Martínez 2001).