The Role of Small Prey in Human Populations of Northwest Patagonia and Its Implications

Rindel, Diego; Gordón, Florencia; Moscardi, Bruno; Pérez, S. Iván

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-61187-3_8

Cited by 5 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…No obstante, todos estos sitios tienen o permiten inferir cronologías mucho más tardías, lo que destaca las buenas condiciones de preservación de Laguna Las Vegas. Otro aspecto interesante que surge de la comparación suprarregional es que las presas de porte menor tuvieron un rol complementario al aprovechamiento del guanaco en el norte (Prates y Acosta Hospitaleche 2010;Alcaráz 2015;Svoboda 2015;Mange et al 2020Mange et al , 2021 y Noroeste de Patagonia; en este último caso con un amplio marco temporal (Rindel et al 2021).…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

“…En un reciente trabajo de síntesis, Rindel et al (2021) proponen para el noroeste de Patagonia que las especies pequeñas, entre las que se encuentran las aves voladoras, fueron un complemento del guanaco durante el Holoceno en función de su disponibilidad y aporte nutricional y por sus menores costos de obtención y procesamiento. Estos recursos habrían facilitado el crecimiento poblacional que supera en un orden de magnitud al del sur de Patagonia (Rindel et al 2021).…”

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Explotación de aves voladoras en la estepa de Patagonia continental austral: cauquenes (Chloephaga sp.) en el sitio Laguna Las Vegas (cuenca media del río Coyle, Argentina)

Belardi

Stoessel

2022

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Se analizan los restos óseos de cauquén (Chloephaga sp.) recuperados en el sitio arqueológico a cielo abierto Laguna Las Vegas, cuenca media del río Coyle (Santa Cruz). Se evalúan los hallazgos a la luz de información arqueológica y tafonómica suprarregional, regional y local. La frecuencia de restos (NISP=23), junto con el patrón de partes esqueletarias con evidencias de consumo y las categorías etarias (cuatro individuos adultos y dos juveniles), sugieren que los cauquenes habrían sido obtenidos en proximidades del sitio durante la estación reproductiva y que se habrían transportado a este las partes de mayor rinde económico junto con las unidades anatómicas asociadas. Nuevos fechados radiocarbónicos realizados sobre un resto de cauquén y otro sobre guanaco (Lama guanicoe) sustentan la contemporaneidad aproximada en la depositación de los materiales arqueológicos en el sitio alrededor de 3200 años AP.

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Section: Resultsunclassified

Section: Y Citas Allí Presentes)unclassified

Explotación de aves voladoras en la estepa de Patagonia continental austral: cauquenes (Chloephaga sp.) en el sitio Laguna Las Vegas (cuenca media del río Coyle, Argentina)

Belardi

Stoessel

2022

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“…It is remarkable that in this area there is also a positive selection of Patagonian huemul (Figure 5). Since small mammals are resources rich in a variety of nutrients essential for human life (e.g., essential fatty acids), their greater incorporation could benefit survival and reproduction (Haws & Hockett, 2004; Hockett & Haws, 2003; Jenike, 2001; Rindel, Gordón, et al, 2021), thus generating higher human density. This would be another possible and non‐contradictory explanation for the dietary differences in Northwest Patagonia, and particularly for the higher consumption of small prey in some areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our results suggest that human populations of this area performed a high positive selection on pichi, while plains viscacia was positively selected only in the northeast (Figures 2 and 3). Accordingly, zooarchaeological and ethnohistorical evidence also suggest that a variety of species of small animals were frequently consumed in the region, even becoming the main prey in some areas (Gil et al, 2020; Otaola et al, 2012; Rindel, Gordón, et al, 2021). Likewise, some previous studies have also shown a higher consumption of meat over vegetables (Gil et al, 2020), as observed in our results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In conclusion, our study shows that modeling individual diets allows us to detect diverse spatial patterns that coexisted in different parts of Northwest Patagonia, and that these patterns are not only determined by the availability of resources, since the selection of certain prey was a recurring phenomenon. Previous studies had already indicated a more important contribution of animal species over plants in the area (Bernal et al, 2016; Gil et al, 2020; Gordón et al, 2018; Rindel, Gordón, et al, 2021), as well as a relevant role of small mammals (Bernal et al, 2021; Rindel, Gordón, et al, 2021). Our results allow us to expand these claims, indicating an even more significant role of certain species with little presence in the archaeological record.…”

Section: Final Remarksmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Diet composition and prey choice in prehistoric human individuals from Northwest Patagonia: An application of species distribution and isotope mixing models

Moscardi

Bernal

Araújo

et al. 2022

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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Objectives Ancient hunter‐gatherer diets were heterogeneous, varying substantially across time and space, and frequently showing considerable intrapopulation variation. The diet composition of these human groups depended primarily on resource availability, but also on the active selection of certain prey due to different bio‐cultural factors. In this context, we explore resource availability, diet composition, and prey choice in the human populations of the Middle‐Late Holocene from Northwest Patagonia. Material and Methods We employ species distribution models using current and zooarchaeological data to estimate species availability throughout Northwest Patagonia, and we use Bayesian stable isotope mixing models on a large number of samples to analyze human diet composition at the individual level during the Middle‐Late Holocene. Finally, we calculate a prey selectivity index to address the different dietary choices of human individuals in the region. Results Our results show large differences in species available for consumption throughout the region, as well as a high dietary variation between human individuals, which is mainly related to their spatial location. Some species, such as guanaco, were widely distributed and consumed in the region. Notably, species of small mammals were actively selected in several areas, indicating greater importance in human diets than previously appreciated. Discussion Species availability does not appear as the only factor driving human diets in the region, since prey choice seems to have been a recurring phenomenon among these populations. The novel approach used in this study overcomes several limitations of previous studies employing isotopic analysis in prehistoric human diets, allowing new insights into the bioarchaeology of the region.

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Prehistoric human diet composition in Northwest Patagonia: Complementing isotopic analysis with zooarchaeological information

Moscardi

Bernal

Rindel

et al. 2023

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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In this work, we study diet composition of prehistoric human populations of Northwest Patagonia by exploring the combination of two different approaches frequently used in bioarchaeology, Bayesian isotope mixing models, and zooarchaeological analysis. For this purpose, we compiled a large dataset of previously published δ13C and δ15N human and resource values, as well as zooarchaeological data, corresponding to the Middle–Late Holocene and distributed throughout Northwest Patagonia. We first propose a replicable approach to divide the region into different areas comprising human individuals that shared the same available resources and perform isotope mixing models at individual level using default (i.e., uninformative) prior distributions in the Bayesian mixing models. Then, we explore a potential complementation of isotopic and zooarchaeological evidence by introducing the frequency of zooarchaeological assemblages with the different resources, as well as NISP, as priors in the Bayesian mixing models to guide diet estimations. Additionally, we use these frequencies to analyze the possible absence of some important resources in previous analyses. Based on the species distribution and geographical location of bioarchaeological sites, we divided the region into five areas (Northwest and Northeast Neuquén, South Neuquén/Rio Negro, and Southwest and Central‐east Mendoza) that differ in the resources available for potential human consumption. The results obtained show high diet variability among these areas, with individuals from Northwest and Northeast Neuquén consuming mainly large animals (i.e., guanaco and rhea, respectively) and South Neuquén/Rio Negro and Center‐east and Southwest Mendoza consuming a larger diversity of resources. Our results show that considering zooarchaeological priors in the analyses results in diet composition estimations more in line with the ecological diversity present in the region than previous estimations. We propose that approaches like this, which are common in ecological studies, should be considered in bioarchaeology to make more robust estimates of diet composition.

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The Role of Small Prey in Human Populations of Northwest Patagonia and Its Implications

Cited by 5 publications

References 56 publications

Explotación de aves voladoras en la estepa de Patagonia continental austral: cauquenes (Chloephaga sp.) en el sitio Laguna Las Vegas (cuenca media del río Coyle, Argentina)

Explotación de aves voladoras en la estepa de Patagonia continental austral: cauquenes (Chloephaga sp.) en el sitio Laguna Las Vegas (cuenca media del río Coyle, Argentina)

Diet composition and prey choice in prehistoric human individuals from Northwest Patagonia: An application of species distribution and isotope mixing models

Prehistoric human diet composition in Northwest Patagonia: Complementing isotopic analysis with zooarchaeological information

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