Abstract

GALLIGANI, Paula E; FEUILLET TERZAGHI, Ma. Rosario  and  BARRIENTOS, Gustavo. Los entierros humanos del sitio Río Salado-Coronda II: una aproximación tafonómica a los procesos de modificación ósea posdepositacional en el centro-este de la provincia de Santa Fe, República Argentina. Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2016, vol.17, n.2, pp.187-200. ISSN 1850-373X.

In the Salado-Coronda river basin (Central-Eastern Santa Fe, Argentina) poor bone preservation is one of the main characteristics of the regional archaeological record. In order to gain more insight into this problem the human remains from the Río Salado-Coronda II (RSCII) site, located at the northern end of the area, were studied from a taphonomic perspective. A set of variables that reflect the action of various agents and postdepositional processes were recorded: rodent gnawing marks, root etching, chemical deposition (CaCO3 and MnO2), chemical dissolution holes, fractures, cracked surface, and histological preservation index. The results indicate that the materials were exposed to a number of factors that altered both the anatomical integrity of individuals and the state of superficial, structural and histological preservation of the bones. A key aspect seems to be the relationship between the dominant hydrological regime (recharge), the texture (sandy) and the composition of soils (poverty of carbonates and minerals): the sediment probably did not provide sufficient material for the bones to compensate for the loss of minerals due to leaching, causing them to gradually weaken, increasing their fragility, and making them susceptible to fracturing and other forms of severe structural damage.

Keywords : Taphonomy; Archaeology; Northeastern Argentina.

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