Pollen grains, foraging and crops during Sierras of Córdoba Late Prehispanic Period (Argentina)

FERNÁNDEZ, A. L.; MEDINA, M.; LÓPEZ, L.; GRILL SILVIA C.

HOLOCENE (SEVENOAKS)

SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD

Lugar: London; Año: 2017 p. 1 - 12

0959-6836

The palynological study carried out in seven archaeological sites fromSierras of Córdoba Late Prehispanic Period (ca. 1500-360 years BP) ispresented in this article. The fossil pollen was used to assess the lateprehispanic subsistence and mobility patterns based on their impact onlocal vegetation. Analogues obtained from modern vegetation and human induced cultivation settings were used as a guideline for interpreting the ancient pollinic spectra. Results showed that anthropogenic pollendominated by chenopod-amaranth plants occured during a period of increased moisture and significant cultural change, where on-site farmingand increasing occupation redundancy were identified. Thus, humandisturbance and cultivation are thought to be the probable cause forelevated Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae percentage in fossil assemblages. Consequently, the late prehispanic societies were likely modifying vegetation more extensively than had been previously assumed and the composition of ?pristine? landscape was not only altered by climate change or after the European´s arrival. The ancient clearing the forest for farming, housing and/or other activities played a dynamic role on the land cover conformation. So, the archaeological study of mixed foraging and cultivation economies needs to encompass human-plant-landscape interaction, leaving behind the concept of small-scale societies as passive foragers exploiting the ecosystem.