Age and death seasonality determination of <i>Otaria flavescens</i> and <i>Arctocephalus australis</i> canine teeth from Punta Entrada (Santa Cruz river mouth, Argentina)

Abstract

This paper explores the seasonality results obtained from seven pinniped canines. These are used to determine possible patterns of human exploitation of these animals by the populations that inhabited the Southern Patagonian coast during the Late Holocene. Due to their durability, teeth are very common within archaeological contexts affected by erosional processes. Canines, in particular, provide uniquely valuable data useful for determining the season in which the animal’s death occurred. Pinnipeds have a known growth rate, that is regulated by various factors such as age, reproduction, temperature, and salinity, among others. Variations in these factors are reflected in the dentin and cementum. Thus, the growth lines preserve in their formation sequence a pattern which yields data concerning the environmental characteristics, periodicity of growth, season of death, etc. This information is useful in discussions pertaining to human use of space, subsistence strategies and site formation processes, among others. The analysis of the archaeological teeth recovered from Punta Entrada (Santa Cruz River-mouth) demonstrate that human occupation took place throughout the whole year.