Contribution to the chronology of late Chenques from Lake Salitroso (Santa Cruz, Argentina)

Abstract

In this article, two new radiocarbon dates from a late chenque (ca. 800-350 AP) at Lake Salitroso (SAC) are presented. These dates have implications for current discussions concerning mortuary practices and demography in the region. The case discussed is chenque SAC 1-2, a multiple individual, primary burial, containing one female adult and 5 infants. Two prior radiocarbon dates date this burial to ca. 450 BP. The two new radiocarbon dates were from two sub-adults placed next to each other at the base of the burial. Their positions suggest contemporaneous inhumation. Yet, while the date from one of the individuals (487 ± 23 BP) was within the same chronological range of ca. 400-500 BP, the other individual yielded a date –709 ± 30 AP– set approximately 200 years earlier. This chronological discrepancy raises new questions concerning mortuary practices and the way in which burial structures were reused in the region. It also has implications for existing hypotheses regarding the reoccurrence of mortality events that affected coevally sub-adults of different ages. This has been posed as a possible explanation for the abnormal pattern observed in the mortality profile of the late chenques. Our case-study warns us on the need to further refine the chronology of human burials from Lake Salitroso.