Myocastor coypus (“coipo”, Rodentia, Mammalia) as an archaeological resource in the wetlands of Buenos Aires Pampas: exploitation patterns

Myocastor coypus is one of the most abundant species found in archaeological sites in the Pampean Region wetlands, especially in the Salado and Paraná river basins. On the basis of different lines of evidence, it may be suggested that this animal was an extensively exploited resource, [comma] provin...

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Autores principales: Escosteguy, Paula, Salemme, Mónica, González, María Isabel
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Museo de Antropología 2012
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Acceso en línea:https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/antropologia/article/view/9122
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Sumario:Myocastor coypus is one of the most abundant species found in archaeological sites in the Pampean Region wetlands, especially in the Salado and Paraná river basins. On the basis of different lines of evidence, it may be suggested that this animal was an extensively exploited resource, [comma] proving to be central in the strategies of hunter-gatherer-fishers that inhabited these regions during the Late Holocene. In this study, data obtained from archaeofaunal analysis are described: quantitative, age-class and butchering evidence analysis (cut marks, burning features and fracture patterns). We aim at analyzing the exploitation patterns of coypu using data found in La Guillerma (LG1, LG4 and LG5) and San Ramón 7 (SR7), pertaining to the lower Río Salado basin, and in Río Luján (RL) and Cañada Honda (CH) situated in the northeastern province of Buenos Aires. Results show that adult prey capture was practised, where the entire animal bodies had been introduced in the sites. Cut marks also evidence a series of tasks associated to exploitation (skinning, disarticulation and defleshing).