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INTRODUCTION M. A. Gutierrez, L. Miotti, G. Barrientos, G. Mengoni Goñalons and M. Salemme During the last 30 years, animal and human bone research has progressively occupied a central role in Argentine archaeology. In particular, zooarchaeological and taphonomic studies have run together generating an important body of information, which includes a long list of case study reports, regional syntheses and thematic reviews, the development of new frames of reference, and the systematic recording and analysis of actualistic observations. This volume includes a selection of fourteen papers that were originally presented at two symposia, which were organized at the XIV Congreso Nacional de Arqueología Argentina held at Rosario in 2001. The idea of putting this volume together came out after this meeting, during which several papers dealing with taphonomy and zooarchaeology were presented. Our goal was to produce a volume covering the scope of subjects that are being investigated in Argentina and Uruguay[1]. Although the coverage is not exhaustive, it is sufficiently broad as to give an idea of the multiplicity of issues that are currently being addressed in these countries, particularly in Argentina. Since the original presentation at the meeting and throughout the editing process, the papers were expanded and reelaborated, including new information and artwork. In order to give the volume a broader distribution and to reach a wider audience, the project was conceived, from the beginning, in English language. This implicated a remarkable and laudable effort of the authors, supplemented by the labour of a team of professional translators who assisted us to give the final shape to the volume. Hopefully, this will help to strength the communication with foreign colleagues interested in the research topics that are the specific subject matter of this work and also with those with a more general interest in the archaeology of southern South America. The papers included in this volume were arranged according to a broad geographic criterion, following a general North-South orientation. The evidence presented and discussed in the volume comes from four main biogeographic areas with cultural meaning: Argentine Northwest, Pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Figure 1). Most of the papers draw on archaeological evidence, but three of them are primarily concerned with contemporary evidence, adopting an actualistic (both observational and experimental) approach. The volume opens with an historical account of the developments in achaeofaunal studies in Argentina by Mengoni Goñalons. This paper considers different theoretical and methodological aspects related to the recent local growth of zooarchaeology and taphonomy, as well as an evaluation of our present knowledge, discussing several issues related to the common research agenda for future. The study cases from Argentine Northwest deals with three different problems: a) site-level qualitative and quantitative analyses of archaeofaunal assemblages, b) morphometric criteria for species identification, and c) zooarchaeological evidence of domestication. In their chapter, Nasif and Gómez Cardozo analyse the archaeofaunal record of El Pichao site (Santa María Valley, Tucumán) both qualitatively and quantitatively, in order to infer the function of habitation structures and to discuss previously formulated hypotheses about the site. Izeta presents the results of multivariate morphometric data analysis aimed to identify wild (Lama guanicoe) and domesticated (Lama glama) camelid species, a long-lasting problem in Andean archaeology, in bone assemblages from several Formative sites (first millennium A.D.) of the Calchaquí Valleys (Catamarca and Tucumán). Haber explores theoretical, methodological and historical issues related to the problem of domesticity (opposed to the more traditional concept of domestication). This author discusses the importance of vicuñas (Lama vicugna) in the study of this process, centring on the analysis of data from Tebenquiche Chico site (Antofalla Salt Plain, circum-Puna region, Catamarca). The five chapters that deal with archaeological evidence from the Pampas are diverse in both, scope and methodological approach. There are three papers clearly oriented to the discussion of archaeological formation process from a taphonomic perspective, and two papers primarily concerned with the discussion of subsistence patterns. The study of Acosta and colleagues is aimed to the recognition of the cultural vs. natural origin of the fish remains recovered at La Bellaca site 2- (LBS2) (lower Paraná wetlands, Buenos Aires), on the basis of different properties of the icthyoarchaeological record (e.g. biodiversity, anatomical composition, bone mineral density, bone fragmentation, etc.). Gómez presents the results of an experiment conducted in order to study the ingestion and digestion effects that some South American predators (different species of owls, diurnal prey birds and mammalian carnivores) produce on the bones of their micromammal preys, which constitute an important part of the archaeological record of the Pampas. To clearly specify the role of such micromammals, and also of some mesomammals in the formation of the archaeological deposits in the Pampas is, precisely, the subject matter of the contribution of Gutiérrez and Gómez, who analyse the archeofaunal record of the multicomponent site Laguna Tres Reyes 1 (Buenos Aires) from a taphonomic perspective. Salemme and Madrid also draw on evidence from this site to estimate the abundance and taxonomic richness of the archeofaunal assemblages representing diachronic occupations throughout the Holocene. According to the characteristics of the recovered fauna, the authors put forward several hypotheses about the occupation history of the site, the environmental evolution, and the economy of the prehistoric hunter-gatherers populations. Finally, Beovide Leal addresses the problem of the historic occupations (16th to18th centuries A.D.) of the Casa del Diablo rockshelter, in eastern Uruguay. She compares the information available from chronicles with zooarchaeological data, discussing subsistence patterns and modes of exploitation of wild and domesticated species. Most of the chapters focused on southern Patagonia archaeology are taphonomically oriented, which reflects the long tradition of such a perspective in this region. Cruz presents the results of actualistic studies carried out at the Río Gallegos basin (Santa Cruz), aimed to determine the effects of natural taphonomic processes on modern bone assemblages corresponding to guanaco (Lama guanicoe), different species of flying birds, and lesser Rhea (Pterocnemia pennata). The ultimate purpose of this research is to estimate the differential preservation potential of the aforementioned vertebrate taxa under specific environmental conditions. De Nigris evaluates carnivore incidence on bone assemblages coming from Cerro Casa de Piedra 7, a large cave located within the Perito Moreno National Park (Santa Cruz). In particular, she is interested in assessing the impact that consumption practices exhibited by ancient hunter-gatherers may have had on the attractiveness of refused bones to carnivores or scavengers. The paper of Barrientos and colleagues is aimed to discuss the taphonomic and postdepositional factors that may caused the underepresentation of human bone remains dating from late Pleistocene to middle Holocene times in southern Patagonia. They base their inferences on physical and chemical data collected from different types of burials distributed around a peri-cordilleran lake basin, in northwestern Santa Cruz. Miotti and Carden investigate the temporal and spatial co-variation between taxonomic abundance at the level of the archaeofaunal record (measured in terms of %NISP and %MNI) and taxonomic abundance at the level of figurative rock art (measured in terms of the frequency of identifiable animal motives), at the Deseado Plateau (Santa Cruz). The aim of this research is to assess and explain the changing attitudes of people towards animals during the prehistoric past. The only paper that deals with evidence coming from Tierra del Fuego, in the southernmost tip of Argentina, is that of Borrero. He presents the results of a long-term, longitudinal taphonomic observation of guanaco carcasses, which spans a 16 years period at Cabo San Pablo, on the Atlantic coast of the island. Such a study permits him to address questions related to the rate of accrual of weathering damage and burial, and their relationships with changes in the local landscape. We thank all the anonymous peer reviewers who generously collaborated with us to accomplish the publication of this volume. Translators Financial support Etc. Figure 1. Geographic distribution of the study cases considered in this volume. References: (1) Nasif and Gómez Cardozo; (2) Izeta; (3) Haber; (4) Acosta et al.; (5) Gómez; (6) Gutiérrez and Gómez; (7) Salemme and Miotti; (8) Beovide Leal; (9) Cruz; (10) De Nigris; (11) Barrientos et al.; (12) Miotti and Carden; (13) Borrero. [1] * Uruguay is represented by one contribution.

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