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An Isotopic Perspective of the Alero El Puesto 1 Zooarchaeology: Environmental Changes, Extinct Fauna and the First Human Occupations of Southern Patagonia

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Archaeology of Piedra Museo Locality

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to characterize the isotopic paleoecology of the end of the Pleistocene and the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Central Plateau of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. δ13C and δ15N analysis of extinct fauna and guanaco recovered in the Alero El Puesto 1 site, Piedra Museo locality is presented. The samples analyzed correspond to the latest Pleistocene, the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition and the Middle Holocene. The δ13C records little variation over time, with means differing in 0.2‰ between periods; with values indicated an association with environments belonging to C3 photosynthetic pathways vegetation. On the contrary, δ15N values of the AEP-1 zooarchaeological record show greater variation, associated with the diversity of species analyzed for this period: Hippidion saldiasi, Mylodontidae, Lama gracilis and Lama guanicoe. The guanacos (Lama guanicoe) of the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition and Middle Holocene record a similar mean for δ13C, but there is a statistically significant difference in the δ15N, with higher values during the Middle Holocene. These δ15N variations would be a reflection of environmental changes occurring in the Central Plateau during this period.

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Acknowledgements

The research was funded with grants from these institutions: ANCPCyT: PICT2015-0102, PICT2013-1335 and PICT2017-2999; UNLP: PI UNLP N805 and PI UNLP N831. Special thanks to Estela Ducós and Nazareno Piperissa for their support in measuring samples in the INGEIS. My thanks to the editors for the invitation to participate in this special volume. Also, to Darío Hermo, Laura Marchionni, Bruno Mosquera and Laura Miotti for allowing me to work with them and with the zooarchaeological collections of Piedra Museo and Maripe. Finally, to the reviewer and editor in chief for the suggestions and comments made on the manuscript.

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  1. Instituto de Geocronología Y Geología Isotópica (INGEIS), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (CONICET), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Augusto Tessone

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  1. CONICET, División Arqueología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (FCNyM-UNLP), La Plata, Argentina

    Laura Miotti

  2. CADIC-CONICET, Laboratorio de Geomorfologia y Cuaternario and Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia, Argentina

    Monica Salemme

  3. CONICET, División Arqueología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (FCNyM-UNLP), La Plata, Argentina

    Darío Hermo

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Tessone, A. (2022). An Isotopic Perspective of the Alero El Puesto 1 Zooarchaeology: Environmental Changes, Extinct Fauna and the First Human Occupations of Southern Patagonia. In: Miotti, L., Salemme, M., Hermo, D. (eds) Archaeology of Piedra Museo Locality. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92503-1_10

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