Paleopathological study of Late Holocene hunter-gatherers from Patagonia, Argentina: the Salitroso Basin Case.

SOLANA GARCÍA GURAIEB

Copenhague

Congreso; 17th European Meeting of the Paleopathological Association "Diseases of the Past"; 2008

Paleopathology Association

Archaeological investigations in Lake Salitroso Basin (Patagonia, Argentina) have led to the excavation of ca. 30 funerary rock structures (locally called chenques) and the recovery of a sample of more than 70 individuals of both sexes and different ages. Chenques appear in clusters of variable number of structures in the low mounts and hills that surround the lowlands of Lake Salitroso. They show radiocarbon dates ranging from ca. 1100 to 350 y BP. The aim of this Poster is to present the results of the paleopathological studies carried out on 50 individuals from this chenques sample. Dental health markers (i.e caries, abscesses, antemortem tooth loss and attrition), metabolic stress markers (v.g. porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, lineal enamel hypoplasias), chronic infectious diseases, congenital malformations, traumatic lesions, arthropaties were analyzed mainly by gross morphology. Radiological analyses were also included as an aid to diagnosis in some specific cases. An important variability of pathological conditions was recorded in the sample. However, most of them appeared in low frequencies. Relatively high prevalences of dental hypoplasias and low prevalences of porotic hyperostosis, trauma and infections were recorded. Among the infectious diseases the most conspicuous case was an adult female who showed bone lesions compatible with a case of pre-Hispanic TB. These results are discussed in the context of the regional mobility and land use model suggested for these groups of late Holecene hunter-gatherers by the regional archaeological research project (Goñi et al. 2007) GOÑI, R.A., G.CASSIODORO, D. RINDEL, T.J.BOURLOT, S. GARCÍA GURAIEB, A. RE, A. TESSONE, A. ARAGONE, A. NUEVO DELAUNAY y J. FLORES CONI. Distribución del registro arqueológico en cuencas lacustres del noroeste de la provincia de Santa Cruz. Actas de las XVI Congreso Nacional de Arqueología Argentina, (Jujuy, Octubre 2007). Tomo III: 377-383.