Herbivore coprolites from the South-Central Andes. A multiproxy study at Los Viscos Archaeological Site, Catamarca, Argentina

PETRIGH, ROMINA SANDRA; VELÁZQUEZ, NADIA JIMENA; FUGASSA, MARTÍN HORACIO; BURRY, LIDIA SUSANA; MONDINI, MARIANA; KORSTANJE, MARÍA ALEJANDRA

Journal of Archaeological Sciences: reports

Elsevier

Año: 2021 vol. 38

2352-409X

Coprolites are among the faunal traces of the archaeological and paleontological fossil record. This is the firststudy of multiple proxies in herbivore coprolites from the South-Central Andes. The study includes Late Holocenesamples from Los Viscos Archaeological Site in Catamarca, Argentina, of the last 2000 years. The aim of thisstudy was to determine the zoological origin of the coprolites as an additional line of evidence to identify thefauna that entered the site. Pellet morphology, parasite contents, ancient DNA (aDNA) and pollen were analysed.Consistently with other reports of local faunal remains, most samples were determined as from Camelidae andCetartiodactyla. Capra hircus was also identified close to a c. 400-year-old occupation, suggesting an earlypresence of this European herbivore in the region. Most of the identified parasite remains were taxon-specific.The identification of Fasciola hepatica eggs in goat coprolites provides early evidence of this parasite in domesticruminants of the region, possibly from the early Hispanic-Indigenous contact. Regarding the diet items ofthese herbivores, the pollen spectra in the coprolites provide some clues to their management. These results havealso allowed us to pose some palaeoecological hypotheses that will be tested in future research as well as todiscuss some methodological implications of this multiproxy approach.