Abstract

MEDINA, Matías E.. Archaeofaunas and intensification process during the sierras of Córdoba late prehispanic period (Argentina): The Arroyo Talainín 2 site. Comechingonia [online]. 2014, vol.18, n.2, pp.117-135. ISSN 1851-0027.

This paper present the results of the zooarchaeological study carried out on the Late Prehispanic site Arroyo Talainín 2 (Córdoba, Argentina), a rock-shelter with 21000 faunal remains in its deposits. The assemblage is dominated by South-American ostrich eggshells (Rheidae), with an unusually dense representation far from the pattern observed in other regional sites. Lama sp. and Cervidae were secondary exploited on site, showing a high mean utility of skeletal parts and high frequency of axial anatomical elements, those which are scarce or absent in semi-sedentary summer villages. Sites as Arroyo Talainín 2 indicate that a significant portion of the late prehispanic resources included in the subsistence were processed, consumed and discarded regularly in sites associated with large-group food processing and consumption at comunitary level, where social bonds were strengthened. It is concluded that the change observed in the archaeological record ca. 1100 BP with the adoption of a mixed farming and cultivation economy also involved the intensification of social relations, archaeologically visible throught the composition of faunal and artifact assemblages. Finally, the importance of the Number of Identified Specimens per Taxón (NISP) to quantify the economic intensification process in fragmented bones assemblages is highlighted.

Keywords : Late Prehispanic Period; Sierras of Córdoba; Zooarchaeology; Intensification.

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