Southern Patagonian archaeologicalsites (47°-49 S; 72° W, Argentina)as pollen Records: Pollen Preservation Analysis Considerations for Accurate Palaeoenvironmental Reconstructions

MARCOS M.A; MANCINI M.V.; ECHEVERRIA, M.E; BAMONTE F.P.

Journal of Anthropological and Archaeological Science

LUPINE Publisher

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2020 vol. 2 p. 205 - 219

2644-1373

Fossil pollen records from archaeological sites have been largely used to reconstruct past vegetation dynamics and environmentalconditions in relation to anthropogenic factors. In this paper we examine the degree of pollen preservation from four archaeologicalsequences in the west of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina (47-49° S; 72°W) to determine different types of pollen damage and theirassociated causes. Sites located in the Pueyrredón Lake basin (47° S; 72° W, CMN1 and CMN2) and in the San Martín Lake basin (49°S; 72° W, CPD and B1Oq) were selected due to differences in morphology, topographic position and orientation but with similarsurrounding vegetation composition. Pollen deterioration indices were calculated considering differences in pollen taphonomymainly related to both biochemical (degraded grains) and mechanical (broken and crumpled grains) damage. The results showthat different factors (sedimentological, environmental and anthropogenic) could affect pollen preservation. The preservationproblems of CMN1, CPD and B1Oq were not significant. However, pollen assemblage of CMN2 presented remarkable mechanical andbiochemical damage. The main causes of problems of pollen preservation detected were: exposure to high temperatures, oxidation,pH effect, abrasion of the sediments that caused mechanical damage and the presence of fungi associated with biochemical damage.