The faunal resources in the subsistence of Cañada Honda locality (northeastern Buenos Aires province, Argentina)

ESCOSTEGUY, PAULA; SALEMME, MÓNICA

San Rafael

Congreso; 12a International Conference of Archaeozoology; 2014

Cañada Honda is an archaeological locality excavated in 1950s. There are seven sites on both margins of Cañada Honda creek and Areco river (Baradero). The aim of this contribution is to analyze economic strategies of hunter-gatherers that inhabited the locality during Late Holocene (ca. 2000 years BP) from a zooarchaeological approach. Methodology integrated taxonomic identification, quantification and the analysis of cutmarks, fractures, thermal alteration and other taphonomic damages. Major faunal resources are analyzed in comparison to small fauna. The bigger species are the mammals Lama guanicoe, Blastoceros dichotomus, Ozotoceros bezoarticus, Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris and Bos Taurus. Rhea americana is the largest bird. Medium and small sized animals (which weight less than 15 kg) represent 66% of the assemblage. There are rodents (Myocastor coypus, Lagostomus maximus, Cavia aperea and Ctenomys sp.) and armadillos (Chaetophractus villosus and other dasypodids). Birds were also identified: Fulica leucoptera, Fulica armillata and Fulica sp. Among the carnivores, there were canids (Lycalopex gymnocercus), felids (Leopardus geoffroyi), a mustelid (Galictis cuja) and the family Didelphidae. Reptilian bones are scarce and belong to Tupinambis merianae. Fish bones are abundant and the genus Pterodoras was identified. Larger species were exploited for different aims, but people emphasized the use of smaller faunal resources.