Subsistence strategies in Argentina during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene

MESSINEO, P. G.; RAFUSE, D. J.; KAUFMANN, C. A.; GUTIERREZ, M. A.; MARTINEZ, G.

San Rafael

Congreso; 12th International Conference of Archaeozoology; 2014

The current zooarchaeological record of Argentina has a broad temporal and spatial distribution. The purpose of this work is to present a detailed and updated database of the faunal record associated with archaeological sites in Argentina during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene (ca. 12,500 to 7500 years BP). In this presentation, we integrate faunal information from all the archaeological regions of Argentina (Northwest, Central-West, Chaco, Northeast, Pampa, and Patagonia) in order to elaborate regional subsistence models for early human occupations. The archaeological database includes 78 sites which are represented by 110 stratigraphic contexts. We reported quantitative faunal information from 62 contexts by using NISP per taxon and the total NISP by context, and calculated the taxonomic richness and heterogeneity. In order to categorize the subsistence patterns of particular sites and regions we used ternary diagrams. The results indicate the presence of a wide variety of species exploited in the different regions of Argentina during the studied temporal lapse. Diverse kinds of interactions among humans and extinct megamammals were recorded. Although specific variations among regions were registered, a general subsistence trend is oriented towards medium size game, with some small size species and minor large mammal exploitation.