干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In this work are presented the results of isotopic analyses made on bone remains of human individuals (n=6) from the southern Puna of Argentina dated to the final Early Holocene (ca. 8230-8000 BP). They were found in structures located in Penas de las Trampas 1.1, a rockshelter at 3582 m.a.s.l. in Antofagasta de la Sierra, in the southern Argentinian Puna. They contain multiple secondary burials. Bone fragments were recovered from at least six individuals, three in each structure. Stable isotopes of Carbon (delta C-13) and Nitrogen (delta N-15) analysis were aimed at defining aspects related to the palaeodiet of the six individuals within the palaeoeconomic subsistence spectrum typical of hunter-gatherers. It is worth noting that these human remains are among the earliest from North-Western Argentina, where funeral practices are related with the transportation of certain anatomical parts. The palaeodietary inference considers, on the one hand, the extreme aridity of this geographical area and its impact on the isotopic ecology. And, on the other, it takes into account the fact that four of the six individuals under study were breastfed infants. The results are in agreement with the expected values of the period, which has been characterized as the beginning of the arid Altithermal.