INVESTIGADORES
BERNAL Valeria
artículos
Título:
Role of Wild Plant Foods Among Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers From Central and North Patagonia (South America): An Approach From Dental Evidence.
Autor/es:
BERNAL V.; NOVELLINO P.; GONZALEZ P.; PEREZ S.I.
Revista:
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Referencias:
Año: 2007 p. 1047 - 1059
ISSN:
0002-9483
Resumen:
This study evaluates the role of
plant foods in the subsistence of hunter-gatherers that inhabited the Central
East, Northwest, and Northeast Patagonia (Argentina) during the late Holocene
(ca. 3,000 500 years BP). The goal of the present study is to assess the
temporal variation of dental caries ratio and wear rate in skeletal samples to
ascertain if the biological information supports the dietary shift toward
greater consumption of wild plant foods around 1,500 years BP, suggested by
other types of evidence. The authors registered caries, antemortem and
postmortem tooth loss, and tooth wear from eight samples belonging to
hunter-gatherers from Patagonia for which chronological sequences from early
late Holocene (ca. 3,000 1,500 years BP) up to final late Holocene (ca. 1,500
500 years BP) are available. The results indicate that caries percentages in
Patagonian samples fall within the range established for hunter-gatherers but
there are significant geographical differences. In addition, caries ratio does
not change significantly through time, so the amount of carbohydrates consumed
seems to have remained fairly constant since 3,000 years BP. In contrast, there
is a marked temporal trend toward the reduction of wear rates in the three
areas, suggesting a faster rate in early late Holocene than in final late
Holocene. These results would reflect a change to less hard and/or abrasive
diets in the final late Holocene, probably owing to differences in food
processing methods employed.