Abstract

ZUBIMENDI, Miguel Ángel  and  BERETTA, Marcelo. The presence of birds in the archaeological record of the north coast of Santa Cruz. Comechingonia [online]. 2018, vol.22, n.2, pp.1-10. ISSN 1851-0027.

In this paper we analyze the role that birds played in the subsistence of the ancient populations that inhabited the North Coast of Santa Cruz, in relation to their use as food and as raw material to make instruments. In this way, we explore trends in temporal exploitation of birds and in space between different sites and sectors of our area of ​​study. To do this, we ordered and systematized all the  information of the archaeofaunistic assemblages studied over the years.  In this way,  we verified that there is an important variability in the representation of birds in the archaeological record. The most common taxa are cormorants, albatrosses and Magellanic penguins; while the archaeological localities of Cabo Blanco and Bahia del Oso Marino stand out because there are significant avifauna groups that show the intensive exploitation of cormorants and albatrosses respectively. Finally, the importance of birds transcends their dietary intake, since there are also instruments and artifacts decorated made with bones of birds.

Keywords : marine resources ; avifaunal ; cormorants ; albatross.