Pinniped Zooarchaeological Studies in Southern Patagonia: Current Issues and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

Sea lions have been one of the main resources used by Holocene hunter–gatherers in Southern Patagonia, but many aspects of their exploitation still remain to be studied if we are to understand the variability involved in human-pinniped relationships since the human peopling of the region at the end of the Pleistocene. In this chapter, Southern Patagonia is defined as the southern tip of South America, from Santa Cruz river (50°S) to Cape Horn (55°S). The main pinniped species in this region are the Southern sea lion (Otaria flavescens) and the South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis). The former weighs 300 kg (males) and 150 kg (females), and the latter, 140 kg (males) and 50 kg (females). Besides their body size, these two species differ in the loci they use for mating and pupping, as well as in the waters where they feed (King 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993; Bastida and Rodriguez 2003).