New data on hunter gatherer coastal use at the southern tip of the americas during the late Holocene: Cabo Vírgenes 24 site

L'HEUREUX, G. L.; BELARDI, J.; CARBALLO MARINA, F.

Orlando

Congreso; SAA 81ST ANNUAL MEETING; 2016

Society for American Archaeology

Cabo Virgenes 24 (CV 24) is an archaeological site located at the Southeastern end of continental Patagonia, Argentina. The site rests on an erotional beach which formation started in the Middle Holocene. The archaeological background shows that inland hunter-gatherers populations began to use this coastal space since 2000 years BP. The faunal record of CV 24 exposes a low density and high richness of marine and coastal faunal species. There is an emphasis on pinnipeds exploitation (Arctocephalus australis and Otaria flavescens) followed by seabirds (Phalacrocorax sp., Spheniscus magellanicus and Aptenodytes patagonica), and a lesser use of terrestrial mammals like the guanaco (Lama guanicoe). Lithic artifacts were mainly made on locally available raw material (basalt and dacite) and tool types (mostly side scrapers and projectile points) are the ones already registered in the area. An important expedient component that is in accordance to inland guanaco hunters is suggested. In a regional context, the archaeological record of CV 24 reaffirms the observed trends related to the sporadic and marginal use of Cabo Virgenes area by hunter-gatherer inland populations since the Late Holocene until the European contact.