SPATIAL TENDENCIES IN THE ARCHAEOFAUNAL RECORD FROM THE ARGENTINEAN CENTRAL WEST

G. NEME Y A. GIL

Eagle Lake Station, California, EEUU

Conferencia; Eagle Lake Zooarchaeology Conference; 2009

Chico State University. California

During the last ten years, the archaeofaunal record of southern Mendoza Province  has been used to address several subjects related to human subsistence.  Appling Optimal Foraging Theory, researchers have tried to explain differences in archaeological tendencies through time.  These approaches have been useful in the development of ideas related to the incorporation of agriculture in the region, resource intensification, the impact of the introduction of domestic animals, and the incorporation of marginal environments into hunter-gatherers’ settlement patterns.                                       All of these approaches have focused on temporal tendencies in archaeofaunal assemblages. However, the high variability in the southern Mendozan landscape may have played an important role in the formation of archaeofaunal landscapes. In this presentation, we analyze the main spatial tendencies in relation to the structure of present ecosystems, and compare these results with earlier ideas about human use of animal resources in the region.