An ethnoarchaeological study on anthropic markers from a shell-midden in Tierra del Fuego: Lanashuaia II

DÉBORA ZURRO; JOAN NEGRE PÉREZ; MYRIAN ÁLVAREZ; IVAN BRIZ; JORGE CARO

San Francisco

Congreso; 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology; 2015

Hunter-gatherer sites constitute most times challenging researchcontexts within the archaeological discipline; identifying and even definingwhat are camp-sites or dwellings are, among others, examples of thesedifficulties. Archaeological shell middens from Tierra del Fuego constitute an optimumarena for studying anthropic markers in hunter-gatherers sites for two reasons:a) good preservation of archaeological remains; b) a rich ethnographic recordabout hunter-fisher-gatherer societies who inhabited this region. The aim of this work is to present the firstresults of an intrasite spatial analysis, based on the distribution ofdifferent proxies and archaeological materials, carried out on a layer from thesite Lanashuaia II, a shell midden located on the Beagle Channel coast (Tierradel Fuego, Argentina). Ethnoarchaeology is used as a methodological tool togive content to the concept of anthropic markers by means of formulatingarchaeological hypothesis on the basis of ethnological information.Geostatistical results are expected to be representative of the social uses ofspace, such us productive or consumption areas within the habitat and itssurroundings.