Guanaco Butchering By Hunter-Gatherers from Northern Tierra del Fuego Island, Southern Patagonia

MUÑOZ, ANDRES SEBASTIAN

Bones for Tools, Tools for Bones. The Interplay between Objects and Objectives

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2012; p. 75 - 86

This article presents the evidence of butchery practices on guanaco (Lama guanicoe) bone assemblages from northern Tierra del Fuego island, southern Patagonia. It is aimed at discussing the exploitation of this ungulate by human hunter-gatherers, particularly the butchery sequences involved. More specifically, this paper deals with the distinction of the consequences that the incorporation of glass and metal raw materials may have had on the butchery decisions taken by these hunter-gatherers. Macroscopically identified cut marks have been studied in two zooarchaeological assemblages of different age ?one involving the use of these exotic raw materiales and the other one formed before they became available in the island? and are used here, along with anatomical part representation, to assess the similarities and differences between them. Cut mark frequency and distribution have been surveyed to analyse the variability involved in the butchery patterns and to find out whether the butchery processes inferred present differences that can be related to the use of different tool sets, as well as to discuss if they match initial or final butchery.