Abstract

BOTTINI, Melina Cecilia; ARRIETA, Mario Alberto  and  BERNARDI, Lila. Taphonomy in human skeletal remains from southwest pampean region: the Médano Petroquímica site (Puelén, La Pampa, Argentina). Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2020, vol.13, n.3, pp.07-22. ISSN 1852-060X.  http://dx.doi.org/http://doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v13.n3.30056.

Abstract Taphonomic analysis allows knowing the origin and the possible causes of the differential preservation in bone remains. This knowledge is very useful for approaching bioarchaeological analyzes, as it provides key information work focuses on the study of post-depositional processes and agents of non-anthropogenic origin that affected the Médano Petroquímica site, a pre-Hispanic hunter-gatherer cemetery (between 419 ± 46 BP and 363± 45 BP) located in the southwest of the province of La Pampa, Argentina. Taphonomic analyzes were performed on human skeletal remains corresponding to 19 individuals recovered from a single primary burial and three multiple secondary burials. 4179 specimens corresponding to 1829 elements were counted. The results show that multiple burials were similarly affected by the variables considered. Although weathering was the most frequently recorded variable, the action of roots would have had the greatest impact on the integrity of the elements. This experience aims to highlight the importance of taphonomic analysis in human burials to obtain information about the environmental influence on the bioarchaeological record.

Keywords : Bioarcheology; Pampean hunter-gatherers; Taphonomy; Bone integrity.

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