Reuse of burial sites during the late holocene: evidence from multiple human burials at the Río Bote 1 rockshelter, upper Santa Cruz river basin (southern Patagonia, Argentina)

Abstract

The first systematic research on the funerary record at the Rio Bote 1 (RB1) rock shelter, located next to the Bote River, atributary of the Santa Cruz River in Southern Patagonia, has revealed at least three human burial events dating to the very earlyLate Holocene and one dating to the middle Late Holocene. The RB1 site appears to have been used for both subsistence andinhumation activities. All of the burials uncovered postdate the deposition of a prominent volcanic ash layer. Technologicalinformation indicates that RB1 was used by groups that were also using spaces to the west and south. Mortuary evidenceindicates connections with groups living in areas extending from the Última Esperanza region to the Pali Aike volcanic field,at least at the beginning of the Late Holocene. The selection of the same place for multiple burials may explain why so fewhuman burials are known in Southern Patagonia from the beginning of the Late Holocene and earlier periods, as it is possiblethat sites like RB1 are yet to be discovered.