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Terrestrial and maritime taphonomy: differential effects on spatial distribution of a Late Pleistocene continental drowned faunal bone assemblage from the Pacific coast of Chile

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Abstract

Site GNL Quintero 1 (GNLQ1), located on the central coast of Chile, is the only documented Late Pleistocene drowned terrestrial site along the Pacific Coast of South America. Faunal evidence at the site is varied, and so far, remains of the following taxa have been found: extinct Camelidae, Cervidae, Equidae, Mylodontidae, Xenarthra, but also Myocastoridae, Canidae and Octodontidae. Both geological and paleoenvironmental data indicate that GNLQ1 developed in a floodplain or low-energy environment during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Prior to the post-glacial rising of the sea level, the site would have been located several kilometres inland as the paleoshoreline was farther out on the continental shelf. In accordance with this background, the present study addresses the analysis of the spatial distribution of the bone deposits of GNLQ1 by considering both scenarios, the terrestrial phase related to the formation and modification of the fossil assemblage prior to the transgression, and the marine phase, subsequent to inundation. Results indicate modifications related to low-energy flow environment and carnivore activity dominated during the terrestrial phase and the action of marine organisms during the marine phase. Other taphonomic modifications are not easily attributable to either one or the other environmental context.

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Notes

  1. Correlation (r) between bone mineral density values (Elkin 1995) and cf. Palaeolama sp. %MAU.

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Acknowledgments

This study has benefited from the financial support of GNL Quintero S.A. The authors would like to thank the editors and two anonymous reviewers of an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Chile and ARQMAR-Centre for Maritime Archaeology Research of the Southeastern Pacific, Ignacio Carrera Pinto 1045, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile

    Patricio López & Isabel Cartajena

  2. ÀRKA-Maritime Archaeology and ARQMAR-Centre for Maritime Archaeology Research of the Southeastern Pacific, Casilla 21, 2340000, Valparaíso, Chile

    Diego Carabias & Carla Morales

  3. ÀRKA-Maritime Archaeology, Casilla 21, 2340000, Valparaíso, Chile

    David Letelier

  4. Departamento de Geología, Escuela de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Santo Tomás; Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile and ARQMAR-Centre for Maritime Archaeology Research of the Southeastern Pacific, Vergara 317, Santiago, Chile

    Valentina Flores

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  1. Patricio López
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  2. Isabel Cartajena
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Correspondence to Patricio López.

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López, P., Cartajena, I., Carabias, D. et al. Terrestrial and maritime taphonomy: differential effects on spatial distribution of a Late Pleistocene continental drowned faunal bone assemblage from the Pacific coast of Chile. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 8, 277–290 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0275-y

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