First records of Chenopodium spp./Amaranthus spp. starch grains and their relevance to the study of the Late Holocene human subsistence in Central Argentina

L. LÓPEZ; M. MEDINA; D. RIVERO

HOLOCENE (SEVENOAKS)

SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD

Lugar: Swansea; Año: 2015 vol. 25 p. 288 - 295

0959-6836

The first Sierras of Cordoba (Argentina) evidences of Chenopodium spp. and Amaranthus spp. human consumption were presented in this paper. The identifications were made over micro-botanical remains -starch granules- from grinding tools and pottery from two archaeological sites: Quebrada del Real 1 (ca. 3000 BP) and C.Pun.39 (ca. 1000-500 BP). Multi-proxy data suggests the early farming practices through the artificial management of high-nutritional wild plants and the knowledge of the post-harvest processing technology required to remove the non-edible portion of seed. Thus, the presence of Chenopodium spp. was significant to the study of the subsistence strategies and the small-scale farming spread among the Middle-Late Holocene human societies in central Argentina, being especially pertinent as a potential comparison to seek the early phases of food transition in contemporary Andean South America, Mesoamerica and Eastern North America