Archaeological otariids from the mouth of the Santa Cruz river (southern Patagonia, Argentina). Osteometric study of bone remains from archaeological site P 133

The morphometric analysis of 38 otariid bone elements recovered from the archaeological site P 133, mouth of the Santa Cruz River, Southern Patagonia, is presented. The specimens were collected in two sampling strata, one systematic (from surface and excavation grids, n = 28) and another asystematic...

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Autores principales: Borella, Florencia, L´Heureux, G. Lorena, Muñoz, A. Sebastián
Formato: Artículo publishedVersion
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires 2022
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Acceso en línea:https://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/Arqueologia/article/view/9914
https://repositoriouba.sisbi.uba.ar/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi?a=d&c=arqueo&d=9914_oai
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Sumario:The morphometric analysis of 38 otariid bone elements recovered from the archaeological site P 133, mouth of the Santa Cruz River, Southern Patagonia, is presented. The specimens were collected in two sampling strata, one systematic (from surface and excavation grids, n = 28) and another asystematic on the surface (n = 10), selecting for analysis those specimens in a good state of preservation. We analyzed the species, age, and sex representation, considering the state of fusion and the metric variables obtained on three non-fused forelimb bone elements: humerus, radius, and ulna, and one fused element: humerus. Results indicate a predominance of Otaria flavescens (88.57%), and the presence of 12% of Arctocephalus australis among the non-fused elements. All the fused elements, on the other hand, correspond to the latter species. In terms of ontogenetic age, the non-fused elements would belong mostly to neonates, with a few elements identified as pups of A. australis. The fused elements were assigned to two adult females and one adult male. These results complement those obtained previously at the archaeological site of Punta Entrada, supporting the exploitation of O. flavescens pups. New data is provided by the inclusion of A. australis pups, suggesting the possible existence in this locality of breeding stations of both species in the past. Thus, they offer new elements to understand the relationships between humans and pinnipeds on the coast of southern Patagonia during the last 2000 years, whose variability is not yet sufficiently known.