Evidencias botánicas en contextos arqueológicos a partir del análisis multiproxy de coprolitos del noroeste de Santa Cruz, Argentina

Article

Authorship

Martínez Tosto, Ana Cecilia ; BENVENUTO, MARÍA LAURA ; VELAZQUEZ, NADIA JIMENA ; PETRIGH, ROMINA SANDRA ; AGLIANO, FLORENCIA ; Camiolo, Ivana Silvia ; BEGUE, NICOLÁS ; Burry, Lidia Susana

Date

2024

Publishing House and Editing Place

IDACOR-CONICET / Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades ? Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Magazine

Revista del Museo de Antropología, vol. 17 (pp. 451-466) - ISSN 1852-060X
IDACOR-CONICET / Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades ? Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

ISSN

1852-060X

Summary Information provided by the agent in SIGEVA

Coprolites/paleofeces are mineralised or dehydrated feces and their study allows us to reconstruct part of the environmental scenarios of the past. A few years ago, our research group began to analyze coprolites by studying different elements contained within them, such as pollen, plant remains, and silicophytoliths. Additionally, different methodological strategies were evaluated to recover as many elements as possible. The aim of this paper is to present a review of different case studies bas... Coprolites/paleofeces are mineralised or dehydrated feces and their study allows us to reconstruct part of the environmental scenarios of the past. A few years ago, our research group began to analyze coprolites by studying different elements contained within them, such as pollen, plant remains, and silicophytoliths. Additionally, different methodological strategies were evaluated to recover as many elements as possible. The aim of this paper is to present a review of different case studies based on the multiproxy analysis of coprolites of herbivorous and omnivorous organisms found in archaeological sites in Santa Cruz northwest, Argentina. The results showed that the multiproxy approach allows for improvement in taxonomic resolution compared to other cases where a single proxy is analyzed. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of generating actualistic models for interpreting findings in coprolites. The good preservation of proxies enables us to identify plant taxa that were available to the hunter-gatherers inhabiting the northwest of Santa Cruz during the Holocene. The identified taxa from the Poaceae and Asteraceae families were recorded as dominant, providing direct evidence that these taxa were the main dietary items of the fauna accompanying the hunter-gatherers.