Assessing strategies of coypu hunting and use in the Salado River Depression (Buenos Aires province)

Abstract

Coypu (Myocastor coypus) was intensively exploited during the Late Holocene in different areas of the Pampean Region and the Northeast of Argentina. This species was one of the most important faunal resources for the hunter-gatherer-fishers that inhabited the Salado River Depression (Buenos Aires Province). In this area, coypu was exploited for meat and marrow consumption, and its fur was also well appreciated. As a resource available in lagoons near the base camps, organizing special hunting parties to obtain this prey would not have been necessary.In this contribution, we analyze the capture and hunting strategies, handling, and consumption of coypu, using data from zooarchaeological studies, experimental archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, lithic weapons, and the pottery employed for its processing. Even though the capture of coypu would have been possible using only a stick, and without other sophisticated tools, evidence from the Salado Depression suggests past hunters would have also used arrows and/or bola stones.