Archaeofaunal analysis in San Antonio 1 Site (Lower basin of the Colorado River, Argentina): state of the art

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the results of archaeofaunal analysis carried out on San Antonio 1 site (Buenos Aires province). Preliminary studies indicated that in this sector of the study area resourcing practices during the Final Late Holocene had an emphasis on fish seasonal exploitation. In a new field work, a large amount of faunal remains have been recovered. However, only fish bones have been analyzed in detail. In this work, the results of the analysis realized on the remaining small vertebrates as well as on the large faunal remains, are presented. Moreover, these results and those previously obtained are integrated in order to determine the role of each species in the diet. The information generated confirms the trends already observed. The exploitation of fish, mainly marine, would have been the most important activity related to subsistence. The guanaco was consumed as well, although it was not an important resource in the diet. Finally, the remaining species of small vertebrates were not exploited and their presence on the site would be related to natural causes.