Archaeological evidence of use of bone as fuel in the Huencú Nazar site (pampean region, Argentina). Implications for hunter gatherers landuse and for studies of site structure

MESSINEO, PABLO G; SCHEIFLER, NAHUEL A.

Ankara

Congreso; 13th International Conference of the International Council for Archaeozoology; 2018

ICAZ

Huncú Nazar is an open-air archaeological site occupied during the Late Holocene (3000 years BP) and located on the shore of a shallow lake in the Pampean region of Argentina. A major characteristic of the site is the presence of 22 hearths, which are distributed over an area of 5000 m2. These have an elliptical morphology, variable dimensions (e.g., Hearth Nº1= 60 x 50 cm; Hearth Nº2= 50 x 40 cm) and concave base. The most abundant animal species is Lama guanicoe (Artiodactyla, Camelidae). Bones of this species with high trabecular fat content (vertebrae, epiphyses of long bones and tarsals) constitute the main anatomical units in the combustion structures. The high frequency of cut marks registered on these bones could be the result of the difficulties for processing imposed by their morphologies and the need to remove the soft tissues from the bones to use them as fuel. The concave base of hearths and the use of bones as fuel suggests the selection of this place of the landscape for long-term camps. In regard to the structure of the site, the spatial distribution of the bones suggests that the hearths could have functioned as the toss zone. On the other hand, the high frequency of diaphyseal fragments of long bones around these features with evidence of anthropic fractures suggests its discard in the place of consumption, that is, in the drop zone.