Stable isotopes and archaeology in southern South America: hunter-gatherers, Pastoralism and Agriculture

R. BARBERENA; A. F. GIL; G. A. NEME ; R. H. TYKOT

John Wiley & Sons

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2009 p. 209

The introduction of stable isotopes in archaeological research beginning in the 1970s produced a revolution in the ways that several key anthropological issues were studied, including early hominin subsistence, hunter-gatherer spatial organization, origins and history of farming and pastoralist societies, migrations, and intra- and inter-group social differentiation. As a tool suited for the quantitative reconstruction of paleodiets, bone chemistry provided a new and independent line of evidence that was readily integrated into ongoing discussions based on archaeofaunal and paleobotanical data. The impact that isotopic research has had in the field of archaeology is reflected in the ever-growing number of publications making use of isotopic analyses, and in the also growing number of volumes directed towards the integration of available results and perspectives of analysis. The archaeology of South America was part of this process, presenting some early and excellent examples of isotopic research focused on the resolution of archaeological problems. However, most of the abundant research conducted during the last two decades below 20° S of latitude is not well represented in the international archaeological literature. In this context, one of the main goals of this volume is to provide an updated review of the isotopic research conducted in southern South America.