Dunes as Units of Preservation of the Archaeological Record in the North Coast of San Matías Gulf, Province of Río Negro (Argentina)

Abstract

On the northern coast of the San MatíasGulf, dunes form themain units of the archaeological record; however, the dynamics of the coastal environments have caused many properties of this record to be affected, generating new spatial configurations. Therefore, the geoarchaeological perspective is a determining approach when dealing with different archaeological problems and contexts since it allows to know the diverse processes that acted in these contexts. The following paper presents an analysis of the Creek Bay archaeological locality. The main archaeological evidence is a series of shell middens located in dunes, which, due to their deposition dynamics, have resulted in a high degree of preservation. The objective of this paper is to identify the agents that acted on the preservation and current disposition of the archaeological record, recognizing the importance that the bodies of dunes have had in the state of conservation of the evidence, which is conformed by valves, remains of fish and marine mammals, terrestrial vertebrates, lithics, and carbon, among others.