Rafael Goñi

LAS CUENCAS DE LOS LAGOS TAR Y SAN MARTÍN (SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA) Y LA DINÁMICA DEL POBLAMIENTO HUMANO DEL SUR DE PATAGONIA: INTEGRACIÓN DE LOS PRIMEROS RESULTADOS

Se presentan los primeros resultados arqueologicos sistematicos obtenidos en las cuencas de los lagos Tar y San Martin (49° 7´ S, 72° 11´ O), focalizados sobre la distribucion espacial y temporal del registro. La informacion se ordena siguiendo las principales unidades ecologicas (estepa, ecotono y bosque) con el fin de discutir la existencia de diferencias en el uso del espacio por parte de las poblaciones cazadoras recolectoras. A la vez, se brindan valores de isotopos estables (δ13C y δ15N) obtenidos sobre muestras arqueofaunisticas de guanaco (Lama guanicoe) que permiten comenzar a delinear la ecologia isotopica regional. Las diferencias en las distribuciones artefactuales articulan un primer modelo del paisaje arqueologico regional que muestra que las mayores intensidades de uso humano se registran en la margen este del lago Tar y en los alrededores del Cerro Cach Aike, decreciendo hacia el oeste (margen sur del lago San Martin). Las ocupaciones humanas se habrian iniciado alrededor de 9700 anos AP, manteniendose de manera discontinua hasta momentos historicos. Por ultimo, se comparan los datos obtenidos con los disponibles en otras cuencas lacustres cordilleranas aledanas, integrando asi un nuevo espacio a la discusion del poblamiento humano del suroeste de Patagonia.

Isotopic evidence of weaning in hunter-gatherers from the late holocene in Lake Salitroso, Patagonia, Argentina

OBJECTIVES The timing and duration of breastfeeding and weaning in past hunter-gatherer populations are discussed based on the results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses undertaken on a Late Holocene skeletal sample from Lake Salitroso in the Patagonian steppe (Argentina). Research in Lake Salitroso is part of a regional project that studies the relationship between hunter-gatherer societies, their organizational systems and the environmental changes during the last 3,000 years in Patagonia. METHODS The sample included 52 individuals: 33 subadults and 19 adults of both sexes. They were recovered from 24 burial stone structures, locally called chenques, with dates ranging from ca. 800 BP to 350 BP. Ribs were selected for collagen extraction and measurement of (13) C/(12) C and (15) N/(14) N ratios. RESULTS A δ(13) C mean value of -18.7‰ ± 0.5‰ was obtained, with a range between -19.8‰ and -17.1‰ whereas δ(15) N recorded a mean of 11.9‰ ± 1.1‰ with a range between 10.1‰ and 14.8‰. δ(15) N data showed an age-related pattern with particularly marked difference between values for subadults under the age of 4 and older individuals. As opposed to δ(15) N, δ(13) C showed little variation with age. CONCLUSIONS An early incorporation of supplementary solid food between 0.75 and 2 years of age and a late cessation of breastfeeding at about 5-6 years of age were inferred. This suggests that among this Patagonian hunter-gatherer population weaning was a gradual and lengthy process. These results are consistent with the patterns observed in cross-cultural studies and archaeological samples of hunter-gatherer groups.

Climatic Changes and Hunter-Gatherer Populations: Archaeozoological Trends in Southern Patagonia

Archaeozoological studies in Patagonia have tended in the past to focus on evidence provided by rock-shelters. However, a regional perspective, such as the one employed in this paper, allows us to identify trends and patterns during the Late Holocene (last 2,500 years) that could remain in the shadows if a microregional scale alone were used. Climatic changes occurred during the Late Holocene and specifically during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA), ca. 900 BP that were very different from the preceding times. It was proposed that lower lacustrine basins (lowlands) were residentially used by hunter-gatherer populations while the high basaltic plateaus (highlands) show an archaeological signal related to a seasonal logistic strategy. Consequently, it is expected that regional archaeozoological records obtained in different type of basins should follow these archaeological patterns. Spatial distribution of the zooarchaeological record present important differences between the Middle and Late Holocene in terms of skeletal part frequencies and processing evidence that is in agreement with the proposal.

DISTRIBUCIÓN ESPACIAL DE ENTIERROS EN LA CORDILLERA DE PATAGONIA CENTRO-MERIDIONAL (LAGO SALITROSO-PASO ROBALLOS ARG/ENTRADA BAKER-RÍO CHACABUCO CH)

Resumen es: Un modelo reciente plantea determinadas caracteristicas para la ocupacion humana en Patagonia centro-meridional durante el Holoceno Tardio (2.500-200 ano...

Spatial Analysis for the Study of Environmental Settlement Patterns: The Archaeological Sites of the Santa Cruz Province

The aim of this work is to use spatial analysis to study relationships between environmental parameters and archaeological sites in the Santa Cruz province (Patagonia, Argentina) and to develop an analysis protocol that could reveal including and excluding factors, useful for the research and the discovery of new archaeological sites on the territory. Consequently, a model that considers interactions between sites and some parameters such as the elevation, the slope, the aspect, the landforms, the land use and the distances from water was constructed. Moreover a final sensibility map was produced, that wants to help the archaeologist to know, in every point in the space, how many and which are parameters that could increase the probability to find new archaeological sites and that are survey priorities on the study region.

ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL HOLOCENO MEDIO Y TARDÍO EN PATAGONIA MERIDIONAL: POBLAMIENTO HUMANO Y FLUCTUACIONES CLIMÁTICAS

Este trabajo busca generar un aporte al conocimiento de la dinamica poblacional de cazadores, en Patagonia meridional, durante el Holoceno medio y tardio en el marco de condiciones climaticas altamente fluctuantes. Para este fin se analizaron distintas lineas de evidencias arqueologicas provenientes de diferentes ambientes del centro-oeste de la provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina. Se identifico una interesante variabilidad del registro arqueologico, en estrecha relacion con las modificaciones ambientales registradas en el Holoceno.