IADIZA   20886
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
From owl prey to human food: taphonomy of archaeological small mammal remains from late Holocene wetlands of arid environments in Central Western Argentina
Autor/es:
CHIAVAZZA, HORACIO; LÓPEZ, JOSÉ MANUEL
Revista:
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Editorial:
SPRINGER NATURE
Referencias:
Año: 2020 vol. 12 p. 1 - 19
ISSN:
1866-9557
Resumen:
The present study analyzes small mammal bone and tooth accumulations recovered in three open-air archaeological sites from northern Mendoza (Argentina) in the central Monte Desert, one of the most arid rangelands of South America. The sites, with radiocarbon dates between ca. 2100-400 years BP, are located on the margins of a now-extinct swamp that formed a more widespread wetland environment in the past. In order to recognize the agents responsible for such bone and tooth accumulations, a taphonomic analysis was conducted evaluating relative abundances of skeletal elements, breakage patterns, digestive corrosion, signs of anthropic activity, and postdepositional processes. The taphonomic analysis allowed the detection of owls and humans as the agents responsible for small mammal accumulations. On the one hand, the low proportion and degree of digested diagnostic elements, amongst other taphonomic processes, suggest owl pellet-derived small mammal assemblages. On the other hand, the thermo-altered elements detected, some showing a differential burning pattern, the abundance of large-sized and gregarious small mammals, and the identification of cut-marks on a caviid femur shaft are possibly due to human exploitation/consumption of small mammals.