Macrobotanical remains of wild rice during the Late Holocene in the Southernmost region of the La Plata Basin (Argentina)

Abstract

This paper presents the archaeobotanical analysis from four archaeological sites located in the southern sector of the La Plata Basin, specifically within the lower stretch of the Paraná River (Argentina). The sites Los Tres Cerros 1 and 2, Cerro de las Pajas Blancas 1 and La Calavera have been culturally assigned to the Goya-Malabrigo archaeological entity, which corresponds to hunter-gatherer-fisher and horticultural societies who lived in aquatic environments and are known for constructing earthen mounds. The application of manual flotation for the first time at three of these sites enabled the recovery of wild rice caryopses (Oryzoideae), a significant food resource for various pre-Columbian societies across the American continent. These findings, along with previous botanic microremains evidence, highlight wild rice as a key subsistence resource in pre-Hispanic economies of the region, accessible in vast plain areas subject to recurrent flooding and annual river surges. Furthermore, the results are discussed in relation to other archaeological, ethnohistorical and ethnographic cases of economies based on rice exploitation across the Americas.