Faunistic analysis of the Laguna de los Pampas site (Lincoln County, Pampean Region): Contributions to the study of subsistence in the Western Area of Humid Pampa

Abstract

Research conducted during the last decades has led to the development of models concerning the subsistence of hunter-gatherers that inhabited the different areas of the Pampean Region during the Late Pleistocene/Holocene. However, for the West area, the available data on diet is still limited. is paper presents the results of faunal analysis on an assemblage from the site of Laguna de los Pampas (Lincoln County, Buenos Aires).e aim is to evaluate the main subsistence trends. Furthermore, these results were then compared against subsistence models generated for adjacent areas. ere are 2,583 specimens dating to the Middle Holocene in the sample from Laguna de los Pampas. is analysis indicates the consumption of a wide range of different- sized animals (Ntaxa = 9), including artiodactyls, armadillos, rodents, carnivores, and birds. The data corresponds to the subsistence model proposed for the Interserrana area during the first half of the Middle Holocene. This diet focused on the exploitation of artiodactyls, although complemented by a wide variety of different taxa.