Hunting techniques along the rain shadow gradient in North-Central Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

The forest and the steppe of North-Central Patagonia (Argentina) are contiguous yet contrasting environments that have been connected throughout their peopling history. Human occupation began in the early Holocene, became more regular ca. 3500 years BP, and has increased since 2200–1700 years BP. Beyond this general picture, the nature of the relationship between forest and steppe over time is a matter of debate. To better our understanding of the human use of both environments, where assessed and investigated various hunting techniques employed over the last 3500 years, a central activity for hunter-gatherer societies. First, we modeled hunting techniques combining ecology, size, and behavior of prey, ethnographic, historical, and archaeological data, and the environmental settings (topography and vegetation). Then, we evaluated the models using weapon lithic technology and the zooarchaeological records recovered from archaeological sites located in both the forest (Cholila, Epuyén, and Manso) and the steppe (Piedra Parada area) and dated to the last 3500 years. The analysis showed that in both environments the ungulates of medium to large sizes were the main prey (huemul, Hippocamelus bisulcus, and guanaco, Lama guanicoe). They were captured near the sites, in hunting events involving few animals. In the forest, small huemul social groups were hunted by ‘encounter’ technique mainly with bows and arrows. This weapon system would have enabled more recurrent and/or longer stays in the forest. In the steppe, the ‘approach’ method was the most used technique to hunt guanacos and lesser rheas (choique, Pterocnemia pennata). These animals could be captured in high productive wetlands (mallines) using mainly throwing weapons, and handheld weapons to a lesser extent. Our results reinforce the idea that by the end of the peopling process of both environments, distinctive traits had developed beyond the existing networks of interaction.