20235602(en)/2 - Bioarchaeology of the Early Hunter-Gatherers of the Pampean Region. New Data from the Arroyo Seco 2 Site (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
BIOARCHAEOLOGY OF THE EARLY HUNTER-GATHERERS OF THE PAMPEAN REGION. NEW DATA FROM THE ARROYO SECO 2 SITE (BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA)
BIOARQUEOLOGÍA DE LOS CAZADORES-RECOLECTORES TEMPRANOS DE LA REGIÓN PAMPEANA. NUEVOS DATOS DEL SITIO ARROYO SECO 2 (BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA)
Clara Scabuzzo y Gustavo G. Politis
In the last 40 years, archaeological research at Arroyo Seco 2 (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) has led to the recovery of the human remains of at least 50 individuals assigned to the Early and Middle Holocene. This constitutes one of the most important bioarchaeological records of the Southern Cone for early moments. Starting in 2009, new excavations were carried out, additional individuals were recorded, the previously published skeletons were re-analyzed, and 36 radiocarbon datings were performed on human bones. The integration of new data with the previous information led to a revision of some interpretations of the site. Currently, the evidence indicates that the earliest occupations are contemporaneous with changes in Early-Middle Holocene population dynamics. At that time, Arroyo Seco 2 functioned as a residential camp, and burial activities at the site date to ~8550 cal. BP. Later, funerary activities continued with mostly primary interments and the occasional secondary burial, with some graves marked by stones. Throughout the 3600 years of burial activity, the place acquired ancestral significance as part of a growing ritualization of death. This is reflected in elaborate funerary accompaniments, some of which suggest a degree of socio-political or ideational differentiation within the group. Key words: Bioarchaeology, Hunter-g
