Stable isotope studies in the Salitroso lake basin (southern Patagonia, Argentine republic): assessing diet of late Holocene hunter-gatherers

TESSONE AUGUSTO; ZANGRANDO ATILIO FRANCISCO; BARRIENTOS GUSTAVO; GOÑI RAFAEL AGUSTÍN; PANARELLO HÉCTOR OSVALDO; CAGNONI MARIANA

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Año: 2009 vol. 19 p. 297 - 308

1099-1212

This work aims to present the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data for human and environmental samples in order to discuss the dietary patterns of Late Holocene huntergatherers from Salitroso Lake (southern Patagonia, Argentina) within the framework of ongoing research oriented to Investigate the socio-ecology of these populations. We present data for a sample of 24 human skeletons, 19 of which have been radiocarbon-dated to between 2600 and 350 years BP. Faunal skeletal remains and modern plants are sampled in order to get a better understanding of the isotopic ecology at a regional level. The mean stable isotope values corresponding to these human samples are: d13C (n 24) -19.05+-0.65%, and d15N (n 11) 11.77+-0.92%. These results highlight the importance of terrestrial C3 ecosystems as the main source of dietary resources for these hunter-gatherer populations.Finally, there is a comparison of stable isotopes of 13C and 15N on a supra-regional scale to highlight the particularities of the samples presented here for the Late Holocene in Patagonia.