Hunting blinds in the Southern End of the Deseado Massif: collective hunting strategies during the Late Holocene

FRANCO, NORA; VETRISANO, LUCAS; GILIO, BRENDA; CIRIGLIANO, NATALIA; BIANCHI, PABLO

Ancient Hunting Strategies in Southern South America

Springer

Año: 2021;

The Southem End of the Deseado Massif (SDM, Patagonia, Argentina) is part of a morphostructural region with seasonal shallow lakes and streams highly dependent on rainfall. The area is rich in rock shelters and both primacy and secondacy sources of high-quality siliceous rocks. To the South there are basaltic plateaus and open plains where no such sources have been identified. Although a relatively big space was explored, rock structures forming groups were located in only a small part of it In this paper we seek to analyze the reasons for their location and the way in which they were used. In order to do this, we present infonnation related to their frequency, characteristics, and the archaeological context recovered. In addi­tion, in order to understand the way in which they were used, the viaibility of nearby environments was analyzed with Geographical Information Systems, using a DEM (Digital mevation Model) developed by the Argentine Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN). Results obtained indicate that the rock structures were built in places higher than the surroundings, using immediately available rocks. According to the visibility analysis, they worked in an articulated way as part of collective lnmting strategies. The characteristics and composition of the artifact assemblages recovered indicate that different activities took place at these sites during the Late Holocene. The iden­tification of the hunting blinds in a specific area within the SDM and their absence in the remaining study arca to the North and South suggest that this area was selected for planned collective hunting.