Pre-Hispanic use of edible Geoffroea decorticans fruits in central Argentina - first approximations based on an integrated morphoanatomical and archaeobotanical approach

Abstract

The edible drupe of Geoffroea decorticans (Fabaceae) has been used in South America since ancient times. However, and despite its great current cultural importance, there are no details about the past modes of use. In the central mountains of Argentina, micro- and macrobotanical remains of this wild species were recovered from archaeological sites within three subregions. This evidence indicates that the taxon was part of the plants used as food by the communities who inhabited the area in the Late Pre-Hispanic period (LPP, 1,500 − 350 bp). Identifying the culinary practices involving these remains in the past requires an interpretive model built from processing activities currently performed with these fruits, as well as detailed knowledge of the anatomy of these fruits. As part of a major archaeological-ethnobotanical research project, in this work we present a micro-morphological and histological characterization of G. decorticans drupes and describe the charred carpological remains recovered from the study area to date. We use these anatomical data, as well as ethnographic information from previous studies, to infer the possible activities and processes that formed the archaeological specimens. The results indicate differences in the processing of G. decorticans during LPP at both local and subregional scales and enhance our knowledge about the interrelation between the LPP societies and wild edible plants.