Abstract

MEDINA, Matías E; PASTOR, Sebastián  and  RIVERO, Diego E. Osteometría y diferenciación de especies de camélidos en sitios arqueológicos de las Sierras Centrales (Argentina): Tendencias, problemas y perspectivas. Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2014, vol.15, n.2, pp.339-351. ISSN 1850-373X.

The probable presence of domestic camelids in the Late Holocene of the Sierras Centrales, Argentina, and their probable economic significance is poorly developed in regional archaeology. Osteometric studies carried out on Lama sp. bone assemblages from Holocene archaeological deposits have resulted in: 1) the establishment of the morphometrical range variation of local Early and Middle Holocene Lama guanicoe populations, now extinct; and 2) the verification of a sudden range increase during Late Holocene, which was related to the introduction of L. glama. These proposals are evaluated here in the light of new osteometrical measurements of camelid bones, mainly from Early and Middle Holocene deposits. The study focuses on univariate and bivariate analyses of the proximal first phalanx, a bone recovered at high frequency in the archaeological record and seen to be particularly effective in discriminating between species of camelids. The results show a high metric variation in Holocene camelid bones from the Sierras Centrales. This information was used to specify previously observed trends as well as test the effectiveness of the osteometric technique in making distinctions between L. glama and L. guanicoe from central Argentinean archaeofaunal assemblages.

Keywords : Central Hills; Holocene; Osteometry; Lama sp.

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