DESCRIPTION AND INTERPRETATION OF A MEGATHERIUM AMERICANUM ATLAS WITH EVIDENCE OF HUMAN INTERVENTION

J.L. LANATA; CHICHKOYAN MARTÍNEZ-NAVARRO MOIGNE, CIOPPI,

RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA

UNIV STUDI MILANO

Lugar: Milan, Italia; Año: 2017 vol. 123 p. 51 - 64

0035-6883

This paper discusses a Megatherium americanum atlas from the Pampas region of Argentina, whichis currently housed at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze, Italy. Traces of anthropic cut marks were found onthe dorsal and ventral faces of the posterior part, in articulation with the axis. This is the first time that this typeof evidence has been documented on this element of this species. The position of these marks suggests that theyresulted from the act of separating the head from the postcranial skeleton. They were therefore most likely made inan effort to exploit the contents of the head. Current research focusing on museum collections employing modernmethods can provide new and valuable information, despite the general lack of contextualization of these pieces.In the case studied here, these methods have allowed us to delve deeper into the first dispersal of Homo sapiens andtheir interaction with the native fauna in the South American Southern Cone.