Guanaco bone piles from the Pampas region (Argentina) and their implications for hunter-gatherer subsistence.

ALVAREZ, M. C.; MESSINEO, P. G.; KAUFMANN C. A.

Hunter Gatherer Research

Liverpool University Press

Lugar: Liverpool; Año: 2018 p. 289 - 322

2056-3264

Six sites of the Pampas region (Argentina) present bone piles dominated by guanaco bones. Theseassemblages are dated to the Middle and Late Holocene and their study can contribute to the understanding of the hunter-gatherer subsistence, especially in these periods, when the diet was highly oriented to the consumption of guanaco. Assemblages with bone piles are discussed in this article, with a special focus on the archaeological site Empalme Querandíes 1. This is a hunter-gatherers? base camp where a wide variety of resources was exploited. The particularity of this site is the presence of two bone piles, mainly composed of complete guanaco bones. These features are associated with at least two different chronological events that took place during the Late Holocene. Bone pile number 1 is composed of 166 specimens and bone pilenumber 2 contains 246 specimens. The analyses conducted on the specimens from the bone piles show that they are deposited in palustrine environments, the elements are highly articulated, the time of burial was short, and they correspond to guanacos of different ages. Taking into account the cultural context, the association of the elements, and the presence of human modifications, it is proposed that both bone piles had an anthropogenic origin. Their presence in the site could be the result of cooperative hunting and the premature abandonment of the base camp because of unpredictable situations or mobility decisions.