Palynological analysis of camelid coprolites: seasonality in the use of the site Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (Santa Cruz, Argentina)

NADIA JIMENA VELÁZQUEZ; LIDIA SUSANA BURRY; MARTÍN HORACIO FUGASSA; MARÍA TERESA CIVALERO; CARLOS ASCHERO

QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2014 vol. 83 p. 143 - 156

0277-3791

Palynological, palaeoparasitological and paleobotanical studies of coprolites found in archaeological sites from Perito Moreno National Park (47°57'S;72°05'W) yielded information on diet, palaeoenvironment and health. These studies allowed adding evidence to the reconstruction of life history of the hunter-gatherers that inhabited Patagonia during the Holocene. We examined the season of the year when camelid Lama guanicoe coprolites (5400 ± 64 yr 14C BP to 9640 ± 190 yr 14C BP) were deposited at Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (site CCP7). The study used palynological evidence and comparison with pollen spectra of modern feces collected during summer, fall, winter and spring of 2010. The dominant types were: pollen of Nothofagus, Empetrum rubrum, Asteraceae subfam. Asteroideae, Nassauvia, Caryophyllaceae and Poaceae; fern spores; remains of Eimeria macusaniensis; and plant remains of Poaceae, Festuca pallescens, Stipa speciosa, Armeria maritima, Gaultheria mucronata and E. rubrum. Pollen spectra of modern and fossil feces were used for multivariate analysis. Coprolites associated to fall and winter modern feces. These results and those obtained from pollen concentration values and the presence of pollen types indicators of seasonality, allowed the determination of summer, fall and winter coprolites. However, caution must be taken with the seasonality results of coprolites dated earlier than 9000 years BP since the environmental conditions differed from now. The site was probably a camelid shelter during the unfavorable seasons.