A GUANACO KILL SITE IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA

SANTIAGO, FERNANDO; SALEMME, MÓNICA

Before Farming

Western Academic & Specialist Press Ltd

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2010 vol. 2010 p. 1 - 17

1476-4261

The site of Las Vueltas 1 (LV1) is located in the Fuegian steppe, on a strip of land between two lakes that are surrounded by low hills built on Tertiary sediments. The surface record of LV1 comprises more than two thousand bones deposited over 600 square metres, with 91 percent of the bones belonging to a single species (guanaco, Lama guanicoe). Several frames of reference were used to analyse the faunal assemblage: quantitative analysis, age and sex profiles, natural and anthropic modifications, taphonomic approaches, and a review of ethnographic sources. The characteristics of the assemblage, its environmental setting, and radiocarbon dates lead us to interpret this site as a Late Holocene guanaco mass kill site in the Fuegian steppe. The LV1 mass kill site is the first one found in Fuego-Patagonia. It provides a better understanding of hunter-gatherer social and economic behaviour in the late Holocene and stimulates discussion of the different strategies used to hunt guanacos in Patagonia