Isotopic evidence of diet breadth hunter-gatherers changes during the Holocene in the Central Pampean Dunefields (Argentina, South America).

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101770171 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2692-7691 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 26927691 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Biol Anthropol Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: [Hoboken, NJ] : John Wiley & Sons Inc., [2022]-

Carbon Isotopes*/analysis ; Diet*/history ; Nitrogen Isotopes*/analysis ; Bone and Bones*/chemistry ; Bone and Bones*/metabolism; Humans ; Argentina ; Adult ; History, Ancient ; Male ; Female ; Collagen/metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Adolescent

Objectives: Based on the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of bone collagen, stable carbon isotopes of bone apatite and an extensive AMS dating series (~10,000-299 years cal BP), the human paleodiets of 34 individuals from the Central Pampean Dunefields (Argentina, South America) are evaluated.
Materials and Methods: These data are interpreted from the isotopic ecology of animals with archaeofaunal evidence of consumption and isotopic models of human diet. Multivariate carbon and nitrogen stable isotope model and Bayesian stable isotope ellipses were used to interpret human diets.
Results: Analysis of isotopic values indicates intake of enriched lipids and/or carbohydrates in relation to the proteins consumed throughout the Holocene. The isotopic values of Middle Holocene humans in relation to the values of exploited resources point out that individuals obtained protein mainly from guanaco. Subsequently, there was an increase in the human breadth diet during the Late Holocene, with a greater relevance of small prey of high trophic levels and vegetables. This contrasts with zooarchaeological information indicating generalist human diets during the Middle Holocene and specialized human diets in guanaco during the Late Holocene.
Conclusions: It is proposed that during the Middle Holocene arid period, the combination of low human population density and high residential mobility in wide foraging ranges allowed the guanaco to be the main source of protein. During the Late Holocene humid period, there was an increase in human population density and a decrease in residential mobility, which caused greater pressure on foraging territories and increased dietary breadth.
(© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Álvarez, M. C. (2018). Análisis faunístico del sitio Laguna de los Pampas (partido de Lincoln, Región Pampeana) Aportes a los estudios de la subsistencia en el área Oeste de la Pampa Húmeda. Arqueología, 24(1), 127–146. https://doi.org/10.34096/arqueologia.t24.n1.4229.
Álvarez, M. C. (2014). Subsistence patterns during the Holocene in the Interserrana area (Pampean region, Argentina): Evaluating intensification in resource exploitation. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 34, 54–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2014.01.002.
Álvarez, M. C., Santos Valero, F., Borges Vaz, E., & Messineo, P. G. (2022). Ocupaciones de cazadores‐recolectores en el Campo de Dunas del Centro Pampeano durante el Holoceno tardío. El caso de la localidad arqueológica Laguna Giaccone (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Comechingonia. Revista de Arqueología, 26(3), 105–127. https://doi.org/10.37603/2250.7728.v26.n3.35453.
Ambrose, S. H., Butler, B. M., Hanson, D. B., Hunter‐Anderson, R. L., & Krueger, H. W. (1997). Stable isotopic analysis of human diet in the Marianas Archipelago, western Pacific. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 104(3), 343–361.
Ambrose, S. H. (1990). Preparation & characterization of bone & tooth collagen for stable carbon & nitrogen isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 17(4), 431–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403(90)90007-R.
Ambrose, S. H., & Lorenz, K. G. (1990). Social and ecological models for the middle stone age in southern Africa. In P. Mellars & C. Stringer (Eds.), The human revolution: Behavorial and biological perspectives in the origins of moderns humans (pp. 3–33). Edinburgh University Press.
Aranda, C., Barrientos, G., & Del Papa, M. C. (2014). Código deontológico para el estudio, conservación y gestión de restos humanos de poblaciones del pasado. Revista Argentina de Antropologia Biologica, 16, 111–113.
Aranibar, J., Molina, J. A., Neme, G., Roig, F., Cabral, D., Quiroga, G., Dauverné, A., Álvarez, L., & Gil, A. (2023). Stable isotope composition (C and N) of vegetation in subtropical Andes: Piedmont ‘anomaly’ and its implications for paleo (ecology) and human diet reconstruction. Environmental Archaeology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2023.2190684.
Ávila, J. D. (2011). Resultados de los fechados radiocarbónicos del sitio Laguna El Doce, departamento General López, provincia de Santa Fe. Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, XXXVI, 337–343. https://repositoriosdigitales.mincyt.gob.ar/vufind/Record/SEDICI_f1275c24e0b1cd57092c617cd6939f49.
Barberena, R. (2014). Isotopic studies of foragers diet: Environmental archaeological approaches. In E. C. Smith (Ed.), Global encyclopedia of archaeology (pp. 4111–4120). Springer.
Barberena, R., & Borrero, L. A. (2005). Stable isotopes and faunal bones. Comments on Milner et al. (2004). Antiquity, 79(303), 191–195. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00113808.
Bartelink, E. J., Melanie, M., Beasleyb, J. W., Eerkensc, K. S., Gardnerd, R. S., & Wiberge, R. G. (2020). Stable isotope evidence of diet breadth expansion & regional dietary variation among middle‐to‐late Holocene hunter‐gatherers of Central California. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 29, 102182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102182.
Berbesque, J. C., Wood, B. M., Crittenden, A. N., Mabulla, A., & Marlowe, F. W. (2016). Eat first, share later: Hadza hunter‐gatherer men consume more while foraging than in central places. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37(4), 281–286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.01.003.
Bettinger, R. L. (2001). Holocene hunter‐gatherers. In G. M. Feinman & T. Douglas Price (Eds.), Archaeology at the Millenium: A sourcebook (pp. 137–194). Kluwer Academia/Plenum Publishers.
Bird, D. W., & Bird, R. B. (2005). Evolutionary and ecological understandings of the economics of desert societies: Comparing the Great Basin USA and the Australian deserts. In P. Veth, M. Smith, & P. Hiscock (Eds.), Desert peoples. Archaeological perspectives (pp. 81–99). Blackwell Publishing.
Bocherens, H., & Drucker, D. (2003). Trophic level isotopic enrichment of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen: Case studies from recent and ancient terrestrial ecosystems. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 13, 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.662.
Bocherens, H., Billiou, D., Patou‐Mathis, M., Otte, M., Bonjean, D., Toussaint, M., & Mariotti, A. (1999). Palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary implications of isotopic biogeochemistry of late interglacial Neandertal and mammal bones in Scladina cave (Belgium). Journal of Archaeological Science, 26, 599–607. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1998.0377.
Bocherens, H., Drucker, D. G., & Madelaine, S. (2014). Evidence for a 15N positive excursion in terrestrial foodwebs at the middle to upper Palaeolithic transition in South‐western France: Implication for early modern human palaeodiet and palaeoenvironment. Journal of Human Evolution, 69, 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.12.015.
Bonomo, M., Scabuzzo, C., Politis, G. G., & Zucol, A. F. (2017). Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope studies in the Paraná river delta (Argentina): An approach to prehispanic diets. Latin American Antiquity, 28(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2016.6.
Borrero, L. A. (2005). The archaeology of the Patagonian deserts: Hunter‐gatherers in a Cold Desert. In P. Veth, M. Smith, & P. Hiscock (Eds.), Desert peoples. Archaeological perspectives (pp. 142–158). Blackwell Publishing.
Bousman, C. B., & Quigg, M. (2006). Stable carbon isotopes from archaic human remains in the Chihuahuan Desert and Central Texas. Plains Anthropologist, 51(198), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1179/pan.2006.010.
Boyle, C. (2017). The zooarchaeology of complexity and specialization during the upper Palaeolithic in Western Europe: Changing diversity and evenness. In U. Albarella, M. Rizzetto, H. Russ, K. Vickers, & S. Viner‐Daniels (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Zooarchaeology (pp. 39–46). Oxford University Press.
Cabeza de Vaca, A. N. (2007). Naufragios. Editorial Losada.
Cabido, M., Pons, E., Cantero, J. J., Lewis, J. P., & Anton, A. (2008). Photosynthetic pathway variation among C4 grasses along a precipitation gradient in Argentina. Journal of Biogeography, 35, 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01760.x.
Cabrera, A. L. (1976). Regiones fitogeográficas argentinas. In W. F. Kugler (Ed.), Enciclopedia Argentina de Agricultura y Jardinería Tomo 2 (pp. 1–85). Acme.
Catella, L., Morales, N. S., Oliva, F. W. P., & Barrientos, G. (2022). La subsistencia humana en el sudeste del Espinal (Argentina) durante el Holoceno tardío: una aproximación basada en la aplicación de un modelo de mezcla isotópica bayesiano. Revista de Antropología del Museo de Entre Ríos, 7(1), 45–72.
Chaile, C., & Tessone, A. (2023). Estudio del nicho isotópico de cazadores‐recolectores del centro‐oeste de Santa Cruz, Argentina, durante el Holoceno tardío. Latin American Antiquity, 35(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2022.100.
Codding, B. F. (2012). ‘Any kangaroo?’ On the ecology, ethnography and archaeology of foraging in Australia's arid west. Unpublished PhD thesis, Stanford University.
Crawford, K., McDonald, R. A., & Bearhop, S. (2008). Applications of stable isotope techniques to the ecology of mammals. Mammal Review, 38, 87–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2008.00120.x.
Dawson, T. E., Mambelli, S., Plamboeck, A. H., Templer, P. H., & Kevin, P. T. (2002). Stable isotopes in plant ecology. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 33, 507–559.
De Niro, M. J. (1985). Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction. Nature, 317, 806–809. https://doi.org/10.1038/317806a0.
De Niro, M. J., & Epstein, S. (1978). Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 42, 495–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(78)90199-0.
Drucker, D. G., Bridault, A., Hobson, K. A., Szuma, E., & Bocherens, H. (2008). Can carbon‐13 in large herbivores reflect the canopy effect in temperate & boreal ecosystems? Evidence from modern and ancient ungulates. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 266(1), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.03.020.
Ferrelli, F., & Aliaga, V. S. (2015). Variabilidad de las precipitaciones y sus efectos sobre la respuesta espacio‐temporal de cuerpos de agua en la región pampeana, Argentina. Trabajo de aplicación final de la carrera de especialización en teledetección y sistemas de información geográfica aplicados al estudio del medio ambiente. Lujan: Universidad Nacional de Lujan.
Flensborg, G., Martínez, G., & Tessone, A. (2020). Paleodieta en grupos cazadores‐recolectores de la transición pampeano‐patagónica oriental (Argentina) durante los últimos 6.000 años. Latin American Antiquity, 31(1), 1–19.
Froehle, A. W., Kellner, C. M., & Schoeninger, M. J. (2012). Multivariate carbon and nitrogen stable isotope model for the reconstruction of prehistoric human diet. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 147, 352–369.
Frontini, R., & Escosteguy, P. (2012). Chaetophractus villosus: A disturbing agent for archaeological contexts. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (Special Taphonomy Issue), 22(5), 603–615. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.1278.
Gallo, J. A., Superina, M., & Abba, A. M. (2022). Chaetophractus villosus (Cingulata: Chlamyphoridae). Mammalian Species, 54(1014), 186–201.
Gil, A. F., Ugan, A., & Neme, G. A. (2020). More carnivores than vegetarian: Isotopic perspectives on human diets in late Holocene northwestern Patagonia. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 34, 102620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102620.
González, B. A., Palma, R. E., Zapata, B., & Marín, J. C. (2006). Taxonomic and biogeographic status of guanaco Lama guanicoe (Artiodactyla, Camelidae). Mammal Review, 36, 157–178. https://repositorio.uchile.cl/h&le/2250/120346.
González, M. I., Escosteguy, P. D., Salemme, M. C., Magdalena Frère, M., Weitzel, C., & Vecchi, R. (2021). Assessing strategies for coypu hunting and use in the Salado River depression (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). In J. B. Belardi, D. L. Bozzuto, P. M. Fernández, E. A. Moreno, & G. A. Neme (Eds.), Ancient hunting strategies in southern South America (pp. 59–82). The Latin American Studies Book Series, Springer.
González, M., Messineo, P. G., Marini, N., & Politis, G. G. (2023). Modalidad de entierro, edad, cronología y dieta de los cazadores‐recolectores del Campo de Dunas del centro pampeano: el sitio Laguna de Los pampas (región pampeana, Argentina). Chungara Revista de Antropología Chilena, 55(2), 297–320. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-73562023005000801.
Gould, R. A. (1996). Faunal reduction at Puntutjarpa Rockshelter, Warburton ranges, Western Australia. Archaeology in Oceania, 31, 72–86.
Grant, J., Mondini, M., & Panarello, H. O. (2018). Carbon & nitrogen isotopic ecology of Holocene camelids in the southern Puna (Antofagasta de la sierra, Catamarca, Argentina): Archaeological & environmental implications. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 18, 637–647.
Gutiérrez, M. A., & Martínez, G. (2008). Trends in the faunal human exploitation during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene in the Pampean region (Argentina). Quaternary International, 191(1), 53–68.
Hammer, Ø., Harper, D. A. T., & Ryan, P. D. (2001). PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education & data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica, 4(1), 1–9.
Hedges, R. E. M., & Reynard, L. M. (2007). Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, 1240–1251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.015.
Ianniello, I. L., Arrieta, M. A., Bernardi, L., & Mendonça, O. J. (2020). Paleodietary trends in late Holocene hunter‐gatherers from southwestern La Pampa province, Argentina. First results from the Médano Petroquímica site through stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N). Quaternary International, 548, 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.11.037.
Jackson, A. L., Inger, R., Parnell, A. C., & Bearhop, S. (2011). Comparing isotopic niche widths among and within communities: SIBER – Stable isotope Bayesian ellipses in R. Journal of Animal Ecology, 80(3), 595–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01806.x.
Jose, D. G., & Welch, J. S. (1970). Growth retardation, anemia and infection, with malabsorption and infestation of the bowel: The syndrome of protein‐calorie malnutrition in Australian aboriginal children. Medical Journal of Australia, 1(8), 349–356.
Kochi, S., Gómez Otero, J., Zangrando, A. F., Tessone, A., & Ugan, A. (2023). Paleodiets of hunter‐gatherers from the central Patagonian coast: Reviewing scopes and limitations of stable isotope analyses. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 34(3), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3243.
Kochi, S., Tessone, A., Zangrando, A. F. J., Ugan, A., Alunni, D., Salemme, M., Santiago, F. C., & Vázquez, M. (2020). δ13C and δ15N variation on guanacos in Tierra del Fuego: References for terrestrial foodwebs in a high‐latitude Island. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 12, 52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01011-7.
Kruck, W., Helms, F., Geyh, M. A., Suriano, M. A., Marengo, H. G., & Pereyra, F. (2011). Late Pleistocene‐ Holocene history of Chaco‐Pampa sediments in Argentina and Paraguay. Quaternary Science Journal, 60, 188–202. https://doi.org/10.3285/eg.60.1.13.
Krueger, H. W., & Sullivan, C. H. (1984). Models for carbon isotope fractionation between diet and bone. Stable Isotopes in Nutrition, 258, 205–220. https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-1984-0258.ch014.
Kruse, E., & Rojo, A. (1991). Aspectos hidrológicos preliminares del Complejo Lagunar Hinojo‐Las Tunas (Buenos Aires). Pautas de investigación. In H. Lopez & E. Tonni (Eds.), Situación Ambiental de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Recursos y Rasgos Naturales en la Evaluación Ambiental; Año 1, Tomo I (pp. 25–42). Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.
Laliberte, A. S., & Ripple, W. J. (2003). Wildlife encounters by Lewis and Clark: A spatial analysis of interactions between native Americans and wildlife. Bioscience, 53(10), 994–1004. https://doi.org/10.1641/00063568(2003)053[0994:WEBLAC]2.0.CO;2.
Llano, C., & Ugan, A. (2014). Alternative interpretations of intermediate and positive d13C isotope signals in prehistoric human remains from southern Mendoza, Argentina. The role of CAM species consumption. Current Anthropology, 55(6), 820–831. https://doi.org/10.1086/678991.
Lucherini, M., & Vidal, E. L. (2008). Lycalopex gymnocercus (Carnivora: Canidae). Mammalian Species, 820, 1–9.
Lyman, R. L. (2003). The influence of time averaging and space averaging on the application of foraging theory in zooarchaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 595–610. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-4403(02)00236-4.
Maferra, L., & Scheifler, N. A. (2024). Análisis de carbones asociados a huesos combustionados en el sitio Huencú Nazar: procesos de formación, paleoambiente y uso de plantas en cazadores‐recolectores, región pampeana, Holoceno tardío. Mundos de Antes. Revista del Instituto de Arqueología y Museo.
Magioli, M., Moreira, M. Z., Ferraz, K. M. B., Miotto1, R. A., de Camargo, P. B., Rodrigues, M. G., da Silva Canhoto, M. C., & Setz, E. F. (2014). Stable isotope evidence of Puma concolor (Felidae) feeding patterns in agricultural landscapes in southeastern Brazil. Biotropica, 46(4), 451–460. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24030192.
Mancini, M. V., Páez, M. M., Prieto, A. R., Stutz, S., Tonello, M., & Vilanova, I. (2005). Mid‐Holocene climatic variability reconstruction from pollen records. Quaternary International, 132, 47–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2004.07.013.
Marini, N., & Flensborg, G. (2023). Systemic stress in hunter‐gatherers from the central pampas Dunefields (Argentina): Evaluating linear enamel hypoplasia during the Holocene. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 15, 83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01781-w.
Martínez, G., & Gutiérrez, M. A. (2004). Tendencias en la explotación humana de la fauna durante el Pleistoceno final y Holoceno en la Región Pampeana (Argentina). In G. M. Goñalons (Ed.), Zooarchaeology of South America (pp. 81–98). BAR International Series 1298.
Martínez, G., Prates, L., Flensborg, G., Stoessel, L., Alcaraz, A. P., & Bayala, P. (2015). Radiocarbon trends in the Pampean region (Argentina). Biases and demographic patterns during the final late Pleistocene and Holocene. Quaternary International, 356, 89–110.
Martínez, G., Santos Valero, F., Flensborg, G., Carden, N., Stoessel, L., Alcaraz, A. P., & Borges Vaz, E. (2017). Was there a process of regionalisation in northeastern Patagonia during the late Holocene? The Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, 12, 95–114.
Martínez, G., Zangrando, A., & Prates, L. (2009). Isotopic ecology and human palodiets in the lower basin of the Colorado River, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 19, 281–296. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.1057.
Matarrese, A., & López, L. (2021). Procesamiento de vegetales al borde de la laguna: análisis de microrrestos botánicos y morfológico‐funcionales de artefactos de molienda del sitio Laguna de los Pampas (partido de Lincoln). In C. Quintana, M. C. Álvarez, G. Bonnat, D. Mazzanti, M. P. Barros, V. Puente, & M. Bonomo (Eds.), IX Congreso de Arqueología de la Región Pampeana Argentina, book of Abstracts (p. 22). Mar del Plata.
Mauldin, R. P., Hard, R. J., Muñoz, C. M., Rice, J. L. Z., Verostick, K., Potter, D. R., & Dollar, N. (2013). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of huntere gatherers from the Coleman site, a late prehistoric cemetery in Central Texas. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(2), 1369–1381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.09.032.
Mazzanti, D. (2006). La constitución de territorios sociales durante el Holoceno Tardío: El caso de las Sierras de Tandilia, Argentina. Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, 31, 277–300.
McGee, W. J. (1980). Los Seris: Sonora. Instituto Nacional Indigenista.
McNeely, J. A. (2003). Conserving forest biodiversity in times of violent conflict. Oryx, 37(2), 142–152. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605303000334.
Mendonça, O., Aguerre, A., Arrieta, M., & Pera, L. (2013). Investigaciones bioarqueológicas en la laguna Chadilauquen, Embajador Martini, departamento Realicó, Provincia de La Pampa. Segunda etapa. Revista del Museo de La Plata, Sección Antropología, 13(87), 137–152.
Merino, M. L. (2003). Dieta y uso de hábitat del venado de las pampas, Ozotoceros bezoarticus celer, Cabrera 1943 (Mammalia‐Cervidae) en la zona costera de Bahía Sanborombón, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Implicancias para su conservación (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis). Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata.
Messineo, P. G., González, M. E, Álvarez, M. C, & Pal, N. (2018) Las ocupaciones humanas en la localidad arqueológica Laguna de los Pampas (Campo de Dunas del Centro Pampeano, Argentina) durante el Holoceno. Latin American Antiquity, 29(4), 736–753. https://doi.org:10.1017/laq.2018.27.
Messineo, P. G., & Santos Valero, F. (2023). Technological & social strategies for the acquisition and exploitation of long distance lithic raw materials in the central Pampean Dunefields of Argentina. Lithic Technology, 49(1), 13–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2023.2168909.
Messineo, P. G., Barros, M. P., Pal, N., & Scheifler, N. A. (2019). Transporting rocks to an empty environment of lithic materials. The case of the central Pampean Dunefields (Argentina). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 25, 433–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.05.012.
Messineo, P. G., Scheifler, N. A., Álvarez, M. C., González, M. E., Pal, N., Barros, M. P., & Politis, G. G. (2019). Was the central Pampean Dunefields of Argentina occupied during the late Pleistocene? A reappraisal of the evidence. PaleoAmerica. A Journal of Early Human Migration and Dispersal, 5(4), 378–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2019.1697620.
Messineo, P. G., Tonello, M. S., Stutz, S., Tripaldi, A., Scheifler, N. A., Pal, N., Sánchez Vuichard, G., & Navarro, D. (2019). Human occupations and related environment‐ climate during the Middle & Late Holocene in central pampas of Argentina. The Holocene, 29(2), 244–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618810407.
Miller, A. R., & Makarewicz, C. A. (2019). Intensification in pastoralist cereal use coincides with the expansion of trans‐regional networks in the Eurasian steppe. Scientific Reports, 9, 8363.
Miotti, L. L., & Salemme, M. (1999). Biodiversity, taxonomic richness and specialists‐generalists during late Pleistocene/early Holocene times in Pampa and Patagonia (Argentina, southern South America). Quaternary International, 53(54), 53–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(98)00007-X.
Moscardi, B. F., Bernal, V., Araújo, M. S., Gordon, F., Cobos, V. A., Brachetta‐Aporta, N., Lee, R., Rindel, D. D., González, P. N., Della Negra, C., & Pérez, S. I. (2022). Diet composition and prey choice in prehistoric human individuals from Northwest Patagonia: An application of species distribution and isotope mixing models. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 179(4), 568–584.
Mourelle, C., & Ezcurra, E. (1996). Species richness of Argentine cacti: A test of biogeographic hypotheses. Journal of Vegetation Science, 7, 667–680.
Murphy, B. P., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2006). Kangaroo metabolism does not cause the relationship betwen bone collagen d15N and water availability. Functional Ecology, 20, 1062–1069. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01186.x.
Musaubach, M. G., & Beron, M. (2016). El uso de recursos vegetales entre los cazadores recolectores de la Pampa Occidental Argentina. Latin American Antiquity, 27(3), 397–413. https://doi.org/10.7183/1045-6635.27.3.397.
Musaubach, M. G., & Plos, A. (2015). Las plantas de los cazadores‐recolectores de la pampa occidental Argentina. Base de datos de recursos vegetales potencialmente utilizados. Comechingonia. Revista de Arqueología, 19(2), 257–280. https://doi.org/10.37603/2250.7728.v19.n2.18141.
Méndez, C., Barberena, R., Reyes, O., & Nuevo Delaunay, A. (2013). Isotopic ecology and human diets in the Forest–steppe ecotone, Aisén region, Central‐Western Patagonia, Chile. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 24(2), 187–201. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2337.
Nakatsuka, N., Lazaridis, I., Barbieri, C., Skoglund, P., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Harkins‐Kinkaid, K., Ferry, M., Harney, É., Michel, M., Stewardson, K., Novak‐Forst, J., Posth, C., Capriles, J. M., Durruty, M. A., Álvarez, K. A., Beresford‐Jones, D., Burger, R., Cadwallader, L., … Fehren‐Schmitz, L. (2020). A Paleogenomic reconstruction of the deep population history of the Andes. Cell, 181, 1131–1145.e21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.015.
Newsome, S. D., Martinez del Rio, C., Bearhop, S., & Phillips, D. L. (2007). A niche for isotopic ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 5(8), 429–436. https://doi.org/10.1890/060150.1.
Otaola, C., Ugan, A., & Gil, A. (2018). Environmental diversity and stable isotope variation in faunas: Implications for human diet reconstruction in Argentine mid‐latitude deserts. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 20, 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.03.005.
Oyarzabal, M., Clavijo, J., Oakley, L., Biganzoli, F., Tognetti, P., Barberis, I., Maturo, H. M., Áragon, R., Campanello, P. I., Prado, D., Oesterheld, M., & León, J. C. (2018). Unidades de vegetación de la Argentina. Ecología Austral, 28, 40–63.
Panarello, H. O., Tessone, A., Killian Galván, V. A., Samec, C. T., Kochi, S., Pirola, M., del Valle Chaile, C., Pérez, S., Sandoval, B. P., Zangrando, A. F., Ducos, E., Guidal, N., & Piperissa, N. (2021). 35 años de análisis de Isótopos Estables en la Arqueología Argentina: Conceptos, fundamentos, metodología y aplicaciones. Cuadernos del Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, 30(1), 1–41.
Pastor, S., López, L., & Rivero, D. (2012). Access to maize (Zea mays) and its manipulation in hunter‐gatherer contexts in central Argentina (c 3000–2500 bp). Before Farming, 4, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3828/bfarm.2012.4.4.
Peralta, E. A., López, J. M., Freeman, J., Abbona, C., Franchetti, F., José Ots, M., Cahiza, P., Neme, G. A., & Gil, A. F. (2022). Past maize consumption correlates with population change in Central Western Argentina. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 68, 101457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2022.101457.
Pestle, W. J., Crowley, B. E., & Weirauch, M. T. (2014). Quantifying inter‐laboratory variability in stable isotope analysis of ancient skeletal remains. PLoS One, 9, e102844.
Politis, G. G. (2007). Nukak. Etnoarchaeology of an Amazonian people. London Institute of Archaeology Publications.
Politis, G. G., Gutiérrez, M. A., Rafuse, D. J., & Blasi, A. (2016). The arrival of Homo sapiens into the southern cone at 14,000 years ago. PLoS One, 11(9), 1–27.
Politis, G. G., Messineo, P. G., González, M. E., Álvarez, M. C., & Dubois, C. F. (2012). Primeros resultados de las investigaciones en el sitio Laguna de los Pampas (Partido de Lincoln, provincia de Buenos Aires). Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, XXXVII(2), 463–472.
Politis, G., & Borrero, L. (2024). The archaeology of the pampas and Patagonia. Cambridge University Press.
Prates, L., & Pérez, S. I. (2021). Late Pleistocene south American Megafaunal extinctions associated with rise of fishtail points and human population. Nature Communications, 12(1), 2175.
Quintana, C. A., & Mazzanti, D. L. (2011). Las vizcachas pampeanas (Lagostomus maximus, Rodentia) en la subsistencia indígena del Holoceno tardío de las Sierras de Tandilia Oriental (Argentina). Latin American Antiquity, 22(2), 253–270.
Rabotnikof, C. M., & Stritzler, N. P. (2021). Valor forrajero de la flora nativa de La Pampa. Pastos, arbustos y frutos. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa.
Rafuse, D. J. (2017). Early to middle Holocene subsistence strategies in the pampas region: Evidence from the arroyo Seco 2 site. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 12, 673–683.
Richards, M. P., & Hedges, R. E. M. (2003). Variations in bone collagen _13C & _15N values of fauna from Northwest Europe over the last 40000 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 193, 261–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00229-3.
Samec, C. T., Morales, M. R., & Yacobaccio, H. D. (2014). Exploring human subsistence strategies and environmental change through stable isotopes in the dry Puna of Argentina. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 24, 134–148. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2332.
Scheifler, N. A. (2019). Ecología y Subsistencia de los Cazadores‐Recolectores en el Campo de Dunas del Centro Pampeano. Sociedad Argentina de Antropología.
Scheifler, N. A., & Messineo, P. G. (2016). Exploitation of faunal resources by hunter‐gatherers in the center of the Pampa grasslands during the Holocene. The archaeofauna of the Laguna Cabeza de Buey 2 site (San Carlos de Bolívar, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Quaternary International, 391, 61–73.
Scheifler, N. A., Merino, M. L., Vitale, P., Kaufmann, C. A., Messineo, P. G., Álvarez, M. C., & Bocherens, H. (2023). Isotopic ecology in modern and Holocene populations of pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) from central‐eastern Argentina. Implications for conservation biology and ecological models of hunter‐gatherer subsistence. Environmental Archaeology, 28(2), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2020.1846451.
Scheifler, N. A., Ozán, I. L., Tripaldi, A., González, M. E., Santos Valero, F., Marini, N., Politis, G. G., & Messineo, P. G. (2024). Formation processes and environments in the Hinojo‐Las Tunas shallow Lake system, Argentina pampas. The Laguna Chica archaeological locality as case study. Geoarchaeology.
Scheifler, N. A., Vitale, P., & Kaufmann, C. A. (2021). Primeros datos isotópicos (δ13Ccol, δ15N) de una población moderna de guanaco en el Monte de Patagonia nororiental. Implicancias paleoecológicas y arqueológicas. Intersecciones en Antropología, 22(2), 249–261. https://doi.org/10.37176/iea.22.2.2021.633.
Schwarcz, H., & Schoeninger, M. (1991). Stable isotope analyses in human nutritional ecology. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 34, 283–321.
Silva, L. C. R., Giorgis, M. A., Anand, M., Enrico, L., Pérez‐Harguindeguy, N., Falczuk, V., Tieszen, L. L., & Cabido, M. (2011). Evidence of shift in C4 species range in central Argentina during the late Holocene. Plant and Soil, 349, 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0868-x.
Smith, M. (2013). The archaeology of Australia's deserts. Cambridge University Press.
Spielmann, K. A. (1989). A review: Dietary restrictions on hunter‐gatherer women and the implications for fertility & infant mortality. Human Ecology, 17(3), 321–345.
Stiner, M. C., & Munro, N. D. (2002). Approaches to prehistoric diet breath, demography and prey ranking systems in time and space. Journal of Archaeological Theory and Method, 9, 175–208.
Superina, M., & Abba, A. (2014). Zaedyus pichiy (Cingulata: Armadillos). Mammalian Species, 46(905), 1–10.
Tapia, A. H., Salvino, A., & Aguerre, A. M. (2020). Chadilauquen y Neicorehue, dos asentamientos lagunares con cerámica en el nordeste de la pampa seca. Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, XLV(2), 323–353. http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/h&le/10915/111957.
Tessone, A., Kochi, S., Samec, C., Otaola, C., Scheifler, N. A., Miyano, J. P., Grant, J., Messineo, P., Zangrando, A. F., & Gil, A. (2024). Variations in the isotopic niche of south American camelids. A vision from applied zooarchaeology. In M. L. Pochettino, A. Capparelli, P. Stampella, & D. Andreoni (Eds.), Nature/s in construction: Ethnobiology in the confluence of actors, territories & disciplines (pp. 553–570). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60552-9-33.
Tonello, M. S., & Prieto, A. R. (2010). Tendencias Climáticas para los Pastizales Pampeanos durante el Pleistoceno Tardío‐Holoceno: Estimaciones Cuantitativas Basadas en Secuencias Polínicas Fósiles. Ameghiniana, 47(4), 501–514. https://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/ameghiniana/article/view/279.
Ugan, A., & Coltrain, J. (2011). Variation in collagen stable nitrogen values in black‐tailed Jack rabbits (Lepus californicus) in relation to small‐scale differences in climate, soil, and topography. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(7), 1417–1429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.015.
Ugan, A., & Coltrain, J. (2012). Stable isotopes, diet, and taphonomy: A look at using isotope‐based dietary reconstructions to infer differential survivorship in zooarchaeological assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39, 1401–1411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.12.027.
Van Klinken, G. J. (1999). Bone collagen quality indicators for palaeodietary and radiocarbon measurements. Journal of Archaeological Science, 26(6), 687–695. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1998.0385.
Vilanova, I., Karsten, S., Geilenkirchen, M., Schäbitz, F., & Schulz, W. (2015). Last millennial environmental reconstruction based on a multi‐proxy record from Laguna Nassau, western pampas, Argentina. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuch Handlung, 277(2), 209–224. https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/2015/0502.
Vogel, J. C. (1978). Isotopic assessment of the dietary habits of ungulates. South African Journal of Science, 74, 298–301.
Walker, M. J. C., Berkelhammer, M., Bjorck, S., Cwynar, L. C., Fisher, D. A., Long, A. J., Lowe, J. J., Newnham, R. M., Rasmussen, S. O., & Weiss, H. (2012). Formal subdivision of the Holocene series/epoch: A discussion paper by a working group of INTIMATE (integration of ice‐core, marine and terrestrial records) and the subcommission on quaternary stratigraphy (international commission on stratigraphy). Journal of Quaternary Science, 27(7), 649–659.
Zangrando, A. F. J., Panarello, H., & Piana, E. L. (2014). Zooarchaeological and stable isotopic assessments on pinniped–human relations in the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego, southern South America). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 24, 231–244. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2352.
Zilio, L., Tessone, A., & Hammond, H. (2018). Stable isotope ecology and human palaeodiet in the northern coast of Santa Cruz (Argentine Patagonia). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 28(3), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2655.
Zárate, M. A., & Tripaldi, A. (2012). The Aeolian system of Central Argentina. Aeolian Research, 3, 401–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2011.08.002.

Cooperation agreement between the Municipality of Trenque Lauquen; 3629/10 FACSO-UNICEN; PICT 2019-2750 ANPCyT; PICT 2018-02154 ANPCyT; PIP No 0004 CONICET; PUE No 079 CONICET; NGS-50543R-18 National Geographic Society

Keywords: human diet; isotopic ecology; mobility strategies; δ 13C y δ 15N analysis

0 (Carbon Isotopes)
0 (Nitrogen Isotopes)
9007-34-5 (Collagen)

Date Created: 20241106 Date Completed: 20241118 Latest Revision: 20241118

20241119

10.1002/ajpa.25039

39503572