Patterns Of Craniofacial Diversity Among Middle And Late Holocene Central Patagonian Hunter-Gatherers: Integrating Ecology, Subsistence And Paleogenomics..

DELGADO MIGUEL, ADHIKARI K, FREGEL R, PALMAL S, FAUX P, CARDOZO R, NUÑEZ L, MILLAN AG, GÓMEZ OTERO J, DAHINTEN S, RUIZ-LINARES A, BUSTAMANTE CD, PAROLIN ML

Sao Paulo

Congreso; 16th Meeting of the Latin American Association of Biological Anthropology; 2022

ALAB

Southern South America represents the last continental region settled by humans which presents high ecological diversity impacting human populations inhabiting the region over the Holocene. Previous studies investigating the craniofacial morphology of Patagonian hunter-gatherers suggest high levels of biological diversity. However, the processes and factors underlying such diversity continue to be poorly understood. In the present study, we investigate the patterns of craniofacial morphology of a sample of Central Patagonian hunter-gatherers and evaluated the possible causes of the diversity observed by integrating morphological, environmental, ecological, subsistence, and paleogenomic data. We studied a sample of 27 skulls from Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province in Argentina from a time transect that ranges from ~6000 to 400 BP. We obtained high resolution surface and internal scans using an Artec Space Spider scanner and computed tomography. Additionally, we included comparative samples: Chubut (n=25); Tierra del Fuego (n=15); Neuquén (n=22) and Rio Negro (n=20). We used automatic procedures to digitize 3D landmarks/semilandmarks as well as PCA and partial correlations to assess cranial variation and associate such diversity with ecological/climatic, subsistence and genomic data. The results show high cranial diversity in Patagonian hunter-gatherers at the intra and interregional level and significant differences with samples from the other regions. In addition, we detected associations between cranial size and shape and environmental, subsistence and genetic data revealing a complex mixing of factors shaping the cranial diversity. These results are discussed at the light of current scenarios about the Patagonian population history and the craniofacial evolution in southern South America.