Late Holocene Guanaco exploitation at the Río Santa Cruz estuary

Abstract

This paper analyzes guanaco (Lama guanicoe) bones recovered from stratified contexts within the P 27 midden, located at the Río Santa Cruz estuary (Patagonia). In so doing, we address two points that have been little treated archaeologically in this region: a) the use of guanacos in the past, and b) data from deposits whose matrix is formed by mollusk remains. Results confirm the importance of the Austral summer for exploiting this area of the coast and river in the past, as well as the secondary role of guanaco among the other resources used. At P 27 individuals of different ages and family groups were captured, with the meat and marrow from bone being utilized. Capture of these animals was within a framework that emphasized high residential mobility strategies, aimed at taking advantage of the resource patches available in the Patagonian steppe. Likewise, butchery evidence is similar to that recorded in other Patagonian coastal assemblages, it is also similar to that seen on local pinniped assemblages. Therefore, in this context, there does not seem to be a particular method to the processing of these guanaco carcasses.