RECURSOS ANIMALES Y SUBSISTENCIA HUMANA EN LOS VALLES DE ALTURA DEL NOROESTE ARGENTINO: EL CASO DEL SITIO LOS VISCOS DURANTE LOS PERÍODOS TARDÍO E HISPANO-INDÍGENA

Abstract

We present a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal record of Los Viscos site [SCatBe6(1)], located in El Bolsón Valley, Belén Department, Catamarca province. The faunal assemblage was recovered in layers 1 and 1a, corres-ponding to the Late prehispanic and Hispanic-Indigenous periods, respectively. Camelids seem to have been the main resource, and wild minor fauna was marginally exploited. Consumption of camelids was focused on meat and marrow, and meat delayed consumption through drying is probable to have occurred in the Late prehispanic occu-pation. Comparisons with data from earlier occupations of the site suggest the continuity of the predominance of camelids, their age profiles and anatomical distribution. However, evidence of processing of other fauna is restric-ted to the latest occupations presented here.

Keywords

• zooarchaeology
• late period
• hispanic-indigenous period
• high altitude valleys
• northwestern argentina