Tafonomía de vertebrados holocénicos del sitio arqueológico Cueva Salamanca 1 en la Puna Salada Argentina

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Abstract

Se presentan los resultados del análisis tafonómico de restos de vertebrados procedentes del sitio arqueológico Cueva Salamanca 1 (CS1), situado en Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca, a 3665 msnm, dentro de la Puna Salada argentina. Este sitio contiene ocupaciones de cazadores-recolectores con dataciones del Holoceno Medio. Se trabajó con una muestra de especímenes identificables (n=277) y una de especímenes no identificables (n=514) de los diferentes estratos del sitio. La conservación de los materiales analizados es buena y no se observaron sesgos tafonómicos significativos. En general predominaron los procesos naturales intra-sitio, como la acción de humedad, por sobre procesos atmosféricos como la meteorización, aunque en ningún caso implicaron daños sustanciales. La alta frecuencia de trazas antrópicas en relación con la baja incidencia de las de carnívoros sugiere que los humanos fueron el principal agente de acumulación. La información obtenida se comparó con la de otros sitios arqueológicos, y con los datos paleoecológicos y paleoambientales disponibles para la región.

Translated abstract

This paper presents the taphonomic analyses of the archaeofaunal assemblage of Cueva Salamanca 1(CS1) site in the Argentinean Salt Puna, Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca located at 3665 masl. This site contains hunter-gatherer occupations dating to the mid-Holocene. A sample of identified (n=277) and unidentified specimens (n=514) from different stratigraphic levelsfrom the site is examined. The preservation of the osteological specimens is good and does not reveal any significant taphonomic biases. In general, natural intra-site processes such as humidity predominated over atmospheric processes like weathering, although they did not substantially damage the assemblage. The high frequency of anthropic marks and the low frequency of carnivore marks at this site suggest that humans were the main accumulation agent. The information obtained was compared to that of other archaeological sites as well as with paleoecological and paleoenvironmental information available from the study area.

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Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering

Anna K. Behrensmeyer (1978)

Bones of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin, southern Kenya, exhibit distinctive weathering characteristics that can be related to the time since death and to the local conditions of temperature, humidity and soil chemistry. A categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of weathering rates and processes. The time necessary to achieve each successive weathering stage has been calibrated using known-age carcasses. Most bones decompose beyond recognition in 10 to 15 yr. Bones of animals under 100 kg and juveniles appear to weather more rapidly than bones of large animals or adults. Small-scale rather than widespread environmental factors seem to have greatest influence on weathering characteristics and rates. Bone weathering is potentially valuable as evidence for the period of time represented in recent or fossil bone assemblages, including those on archeological sites, and may also be an important tool in censusing populations of animals in modern ecosystems.