Explotacion de avifauna en el sitio Cueva del Negro (costa norte de Santa Cruz)

Abstract

El registro arqueofaunístico del sitio Cueva del Negro (ubicado en la Costa Norte de Santa Cruz) indica que se trata de un antiguo asentamiento de cazadores-recolectores que se destaca por la alta presencia de especímenes óseos de aves con amplio predominio de especies marinas. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el papel que jugaron las aves en la subsistencia de los antiguos moradores de la cueva. Para su consecución, se realizaron determinaciones anatómicas y taxonómicas de los restos óseos avifaunísticos, se analizaron medidas e índices, y se registraron evidencias antrópicas de procesamiento y consumo. Por otro lado, con el propósito de entender la importancia de las aves marinas en la dieta de los cazadores-recolectores, se compararon los resultados obtenidos de otros sitios de la Costa Norte de Santa Cruz.The archaeofaunal record of Cueva del Negro site (located in the North Coast of Santa Cruz Province, Argentine Patagonia) indicates that it is an ancient hunter-gatherers settlement where a high presence of bird bone specimens was found, mostly dominated by marine species. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role played by avifauna in the subsistence of the ancient inhabitants of the cave. In this sense, anatomical and taxonomic determinations of bird bone recovered in this site were performed, measures and indexes were analysed, and also anthropic evidences of consumption were recorded. The results indicate that the birds were the second most important resource in the diet of the groups that inhabited the site. Cormorants, albatrosses and penguins were chosen by the settlers of Cueva del Negro site and by many Patagonian hunter-gatherers, possibly subordinate by not only the meat consumption but also the preferential choice of certain skeletal parts. Finally, comparisons with other sites with significant frequency of bird remains in the archaeological record of Argentinean Patagonia along the Holocene were performed.