Hunting and butchering events at late Pleistocene and early Holocene in Piedra Museo (Patagonia, Southernmost South America)

MIOTTI, LAURA & SALEMME, MÓNICA

Paleoamerican Prehistory: Colonization Models, Biological populations, and Human Adaptations

Texas A&M University, Center for the Study of the First Americans

Lugar: Texas; Año: 2005; p. 141 - 151

       This paper presents an analysis of the archaeofaunal materials recovered from the Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphic layers of the rockshelter known as AEP-1, Piedra Museo Locality, situated in the central plateau of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, at lat. 47°53´42? S and long. 67°52´04? W. The faunal remains allowed an approach to the palaeoenvironmental evolution of this enclosed basin, the taphonomy, the subsistence systems, and the interpretation of the use of the Patagonian region by the earliest hunter-gatherer populations. Two strata in the site were defined; the upper one is an eolian unit (U1) and the second stratum is a paleosol containing five units (from the top to the bottom, U2 to U6)  based on the sedimentological characteristics. Two occupational events were confirmed through radiocarbon dating. Unit 6, dated between 12,890 ± 90 14C years BP (AA-20125) and 10,925 ± 65 years BP 14C years BP (OxA-8528), illustrates the initial Pleistocene occupation in southernmost Patagonia. Unit 4/5, dated between 10,400 ± 80 14C years BP (AA-8428) and 9230 ± 105 14C years BP (LP-949), represents the stage of effective colonization of the region. The Holocene context of Unit 2 was dated at 7670 ± 110 14C years BP (LP-450), and is related to the stage of territorial consolidation of the local hunter-gatherer societies. Through taxonomic analysis, a greater biodiversity was identified in U6 as compared to U4/5; Unit 6 includes a higher proportion of extinct taxa. Likewise, there are differences between U5 and U4; there more extinct species in U5 than in U4. However, there are no extinct species in Unit 2, where Lama guanicoe dominates the spectra. The disappearance of taxa from U6 to U4 has been interpreted under two alternatives: 1) sample bias; and 2) differential extinction of the Pleistocene fauna. Based on the comparative studies of the other archaeological contexts from the Patagonian region, of similar antiquity, the second hypothesis seems to be the most reliable. Remains in U6 and U4/5 have been identified as relating to different depositional events, chronologically separated, as suggested through radiocarbon dating, different depths below the surface of the site, and changes in the sedimentology of the units. Both depositional zones contain archaeological remains which are interpreted as hunting events corresponding to two different occasions in the human colonization of the region. According to the faunal assemblage, stratigraphic position, and radiocarbon dating, U2 represents the latest occupation in the site, during the early Holocene.