Rodent consumption by hunter-gatherers in north Patagonian Andean forests (Argentina): Insights from the small vertebrate taphonomic analysis of two late Holocene archaeological sites

Andrade, Andrea; Fernández, Pablo Marcelo

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.004

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Specific cut marks related with a careful skinning was observed for the caviidae species Cavia aperea and Galea tixiensis from the Argentinean Pampas [15] suggesting the use of the skin. A pattern similar to the observed for the Loncoman Cave small mammal sequence was obtained for some archaeological sites located in the north-Patagonian Andean forest demonstrating that the rodent consumption was not an exclusive practice of the hunter-gatherer populations from the steppe [16]. Moreover, the consumed species -G. eublepharid, M. australis, Ctenomys haigi, and possibly also C. sociabilis-are not typical components of the forest's fauna, but from un-forested and xeric environments in the near steppe.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Human Processing of Rodents in Patagonia: The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographical Data for Archaeological Interpretations

Andrade

2019

OAJAA

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The consumption of small mammals was a widespread practice between indigenous societies worldwide. Modern taphonomic studies carried out upon bone assemblages from archaeological sites in northern Patagonia (Argentina) demonstrate that Caviomorph rodents were also included in the diet of Patagonian populations, both from the steppe and the forests, at least since the Late Holocene. The revision of historical and ethnographical documents written by priests, naturalists and ethnographers during c. XVI-XX allow to corroborate that rodents were intensively exploited in Patagonia, continental and insular. Bones, meat and skin of the animals were employed for diverse purposes, and the gathering activity was guided by women and children.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Human Processing of Rodents in Patagonia: The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographical Data for Archaeological Interpretations

Andrade

2019

OAJAA

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“…It discriminated samples from the Table 1. Minimum number of individuals (MNI) and percentage (%) of the species recovered from early Late-Holocene (ELH), final Late-Holocene (FLH) and Historical times (HT) of Población Anticura archaeological site, from the nearby (<1 km) archaeological site Paredón Lanfré (Andrade and Fernández, 2017), from the current sample of Barn owl pellets collected at the lower Manso river valley (Udrizar Sauthier et al, 2005) and from trap samplings conducted in the area (Piudo and Monteverde, 2012) early Late-Holocene from those from the final Late-Holocene and Historical times. The most dissimilar sample corresponded to the current assemblage (Figure 6).…”

Section: Structure Of Small Mammal Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late-Holocene stability and recent changes in small mammal communities in north-central Andean forests of Patagonia

Andrade,

Teta,

Fernández

et al. 2024

The Holocene

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Past and current climatic and environmental changes have contributed to configure actual species distributions and abundances. Knowing their evolution over time allows discrimination between natural and anthropogenic causes in current composition of faunal communities. We evaluate the changes in small mammal assemblages from the north-central Patagonian Andean forests since the Late-Holocene to recent times and their relationship with the environmental modifications driven by human activities. A bone sequence from Población Anticura archaeological site (lower Manso river valley, Río Negro province, Argentina) was studied, which encompasses a time span from the early Late-Holocene (3350 ± 100–2270 ±80 years BP) to final Late-Holocene (1420 ± 70–530 ±50 years BP) and Historical times (480 ± 70–280 ±40 years BP). The species composition indicates that forest environment established in the area from at least the Late-Holocene (dominance of Loxodontomys micropus, with subordinate frequencies of Abrothrix olivacea, A. hirta, Geoxus valdivianus, Irenomys tarsalis, and Paynomys macronyx), with patches of (or near to) open environments (presence of Reithrodon auritus and cavids). It is remarkable the presence of cavids, which increased their abundance in the sequence towards Historical times but disappeared nowadays. The low frequencies (<10%) of the rodent Oligoryzomys longicaudatus along the entire sequence is also relevant, since this rodent is the reservoir of the Andes strain of the Hantavirus (ANDV), which causes pulmonary syndrome. This mouse dominates the small mammal assemblages from forests and ecotonal shrublands of northwestern Patagonia (abundances exceed 50% in owl pellets recently collected from the study area). Current configuration of forest and ecotonal assemblages, particularly the high abundance of O. longicaudatus, should be mainly linked to anthropogenic causes, including the introduction of cattle, land clearing, and the advance of introduced plant species such as the sweet briar ( Rosa eglanteria). Particularly, this exotic shrub offers shelter and additional food for O. longicaudatus, turning their shrublands into spaces of high epidemiological risk.

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“…Se realizó la determinación anatómica y taxonómica y se calcularon las unidades de medida de abundancia taxonómica NISP (Número mínimo de especímenes identificados) y MNI (Número mínimo de individuos). Para el MNI se tuvo en cuenta la lateralidad y el estadio de fusión ósea (Lyman, 1994;Mengoni Goñalons, 1999), excepto en el caso de los roedores, en el que el cálculo se hizo sobre cráneos y mandíbulas (Andrade y Fernández, 2017). Cuando dos o más huesos se presentaron unidos por tejido blando, e involucraban menos del 75% del esqueleto del animal, se los consideró como restos articulados (Massigoge et al, 2015), y se los contabilizó de forma separada.…”

Section: Materiales Y Métodosunclassified

¿Acompañamiento mortuorio y/o madriguera de carnívoro?

Fernández

2023

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En el valle del río Genoa (centro-oeste de Chubut, Argentina), la información sobre las interacciones entre los grupos humanos y los animales es escasa. El hallazgo del sitio arqueológico Cueva de Plaza, en donde se recuperaron restos óseos humanos datados en hace aproximadamente 200 años AP, cuentas vítreas, materiales líticos y el único conjunto arqueofaunístico disponible hasta el momento en el valle, se presentó como una oportunidad para conocer si la asociación entre los restos humanos y los restos faunísticos respondía a un acompañamiento mortuorio o si, como sugería una primera evaluación, se debía únicamente a la actividad de mamíferos carnívoros. Los resultados sugieren que el sitio funcionó como madriguera de zorros con posterioridad a los entierros y ponen de manifiesto la importancia del análisis tafonómico dado que aportan información sobre la presencia de restos de fauna en contextos mortuorios y sobre la intensidad de uso humano del sitio.

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Rodent consumption by hunter-gatherers in north Patagonian Andean forests (Argentina): Insights from the small vertebrate taphonomic analysis of two late Holocene archaeological sites

Cited by 7 publications

References 52 publications

Human Processing of Rodents in Patagonia: The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographical Data for Archaeological Interpretations

Human Processing of Rodents in Patagonia: The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographical Data for Archaeological Interpretations

Late-Holocene stability and recent changes in small mammal communities in north-central Andean forests of Patagonia

¿Acompañamiento mortuorio y/o madriguera de carnívoro?

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