Abstract

FERNANDEZ, Mercedes Grisel. MORTUORY ACCOMPANIMENT AND/OR CARNIVORE DEN? THE FAUNAL REMAINS FROM CUEVA DE PLAZA SITE (GENOA VALLEY, WEST-CENTRAL CHUBUT). Relaciones [online]. 2023, vol.48, n.2, pp.7-7. ISSN 0325-2221.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24215/18521479e090.

In the Genoa river valley (west-central province of Chubut, Argentina), the information on interactions between human groups and animals is scarce. The discovery of Cueva de Plaza archaeological site, where human remains dated 200 years ago, glass beads and the only zooarchaeological assemblage available in the valley were recovered, was a chance to find out if the association between the human and faunal remains responded to funerary offerings or, if as a first evaluation suggested, it was due only to the activity of carnivorous mammals. The results suggest the site functioned as a fox den after the burials and highlight the importance oftaphonomic analysis since they provide information on the presence of faunal remains in mortuary contexts and on the intensity of human use of the site.

Keywords : funerary offerings faunal remains; taphonomy; carnivores; dens; Patagonia.

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