Explotación de peces e intensificación en ambientes áridos: comparando el registro en humedales del centro-occidente de Argentina

Abstract

This paper contributes to scholarship on continental fish exploitation in arid zones in South America by exploring fish consumption by humans in prehispanic times using available zooarchaeological evidence from two wetlands in central western Argentina: Llancanelo and Guanacache lagoons. Analyzing the exploitation of this resource lets us discuss the intensification process that has been proposed for this area. Ichthyoarchaeological and archaeofaunistic information is integrated and compared to reveal that the oldest incidence of fish exploitation (ca. 3000 years B.P.) is from the Llancanelo lagoon. Fish consumption seems to have been practiced since the first occupations in both the wetlands and may reflect an adaptation to the new environment. Contrary to our expectations, temporal trends in abundance and diversity indexes do not show differences between the areas in intensification processes. We conclude that fish represent a major resource for sustenance both in Guanacache and in Llancanelo lagoons, although its exploitation was complemented with consumption of other small animals.