National Institute of Latin American Anthropology and Thought

In the last three decades, DNA sequencing of ancient animal osteological assemblages has become an important tool complementing standard archaeozoological approaches to reconstruct the history of animal domestication. However, osteological assemblages of key archaeological contexts are not always available or do not necessarily preserve enough ancient DNA for a cost‐effective genetic analysis. Here, we develop an in‐solution target‐enrichment approach, based on 80‐mer species‐specific RNA probes (ranging from 306 to 1686 per species) to characterise (in single experiments) the mitochondrial genetic variation from eight domesticated animal species of major economic interest: cattle, chickens, dogs, donkeys, goats, horses, pigs and sheep. We also illustrate how our design can be adapted to enrich DNA library content and map the Y‐chromosomal diversity within Equus caballus . By applying our target‐enrichment assay to an extensive panel of ancient osteological remains, farm soil, and cave sediments spanning the last 43 kyrs, we demonstrate that minimal sequencing efforts are necessary to exhaust the DNA library complexity and to characterise mitogenomes to an average depth‐of‐coverage of 19.4 to 2003.7‐fold. Our assay further retrieved horse mitogenome and Y‐chromosome data from Late Pleistocene coprolites, as well as bona fide mitochondrial sequences from species that were not part of the probe design, such as bison and cave hyena. Our methodology will prove especially useful to minimise costs related to the genetic analyses of maternal and paternal lineages of a wide range of domesticated and wild animal species, and for mapping their diversity changes over space and time, including from environmental samples.

This study examines the expansion of Amazonian forager-horticulturalists grouped within the Guaraní archaeological unit, who migrated from southwestern Amazonia to southeastern South America, spanning much of the La Plata basin and the Atlantic coastal slope of southeastern Brazil, covering over 2500 km in a relatively short period. This process, marked by rapid expansion and extensive territorial coverage, represents one of the most remarkable migrations recorded among known pre-industrial societies. The initial expansion probably began in southwestern Amazonia, progressing southeastward to the headwaters of the La Plata basin, where this population appears as a weak archaeological signal around 500 CE. Approximately 800 years later, these Amazonian groups reached the Río de la Plata estuary, 1400 km farther south. Based on calibrated age ranges, the spatial distribution of Guaraní sites across the basin, and the application of various statistical methods (Silhouette Coefficient Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Principal Components Analysis, and Summed Probability Distribution of radiocarbon ages), this expansion was divided into four clusters or phases, reflecting a complex migratory process. In addition to redefining the dynamics of Guaraní expansion, this study provides a better alignment with linguistic dispersion models of these populations and offers new perspectives on how canoeing societies, in general, can rapidly spread across a vast territory within a brief archaeological timeframe.

The aim of this chapter is to explore temporal changes in the ecological niches of different species of camelids by establishing their isotopic niches. Camelids were the main animal resource for most human populations that inhabited the South American continent in the past. The purpose is to explore if the current populations of camelids have different isotopic niches compared to the archaeological ones in Argentina. The total number of samples analyzed was 584, distributed homogeneously among different geographical regions of Argentina—Northwestern, Central, and South. The δ13C values show a reduction in the consumption of C4 plants from North to South, in accordance with the natural availability of vegetation with these photosynthetic pathways. On the other hand, δ15N values do not show a great difference along the latitudinal gradient, although the southern region recorded a wider range of values. In turn, modifications in the isotopic niches of the different regions are observed when comparing the modern assemblages with the archaeological ones, either in size and amplitude or in the overlapping and displacement of the isotopic ellipses. In this regard, this chapter provides novel information on geographic and temporal baselines for the different camelid species of Argentina.

This article focuses on the Maritime Historical Cultural Heritage (herein after MHCH) of Puerto Madryn. This city, located in Argentinean Patagonia, on the coast of the Nuevo Gulf, is a natural harbor with a rich history of seafaring. Since the 2000s, Argentina’s Underwater Archaeology Program of the National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought (herein after PPROAS-INAPL), has been dedicated to the research and management of archaeological shipwreck sites located on the city’s foreshore, in the Nuevo Gulf, and other locations outside the city limits. In this article, the results of the studies carried out between 2018 and 2024 are presented. The primary aim was to broaden the knowledge of the MHCH of Puerto Madryn, focusing on shipwrecks. The specific objectives include classifying and characterizing the MHCH in a systematic manner, identifying the stakeholders’ interests in this heritage, understanding the various values assigned to the shipwrecks and the threats to their preservation. Based on the information gathered, a set of proposals for heritage activation oriented towards the enjoyment, interpretation and conservation of the MHCH is presented. This approach is innovative in South America for the topic under study.

This paper explores the strategies implemented by hunter-gatherer groups in Southern Patagonia during the Late Holocene in relation to the circulation of goods and information. Previous archaeological investigations have revealed important changes in human mobility and land-use patterns during this period, associated with increasingly dry environmental conditions. In this context, we undertake a broad spatial scale analysis of the circulation of goods and information through the integrated examination of two lines of evidence: rock art and lithic raw materials. Specifically, we consider the distribution of engravings and black obsidian artefacts assigned to the Late Holocene. The former can offer certain insights into the circulation of information, and the latter are indicative of the circulation of goods. Our analysis suggests that during this period different strategies were developed by hunter-gatherer groups to face the changing environment. Several implications concerning social interaction and the movement of people during this period in Southern Patagonia are discussed.

Harpoons are part of the composite technologies, widely dispersed throughout the world. In South America, a unique type of throwing harpoon reveals a limited distribution, primarily discovered in hunter‐gatherer archaeological sites within the lower La Plata basin. Specifically, they are found in two archaeological units named Incised Pottery and Plain Pottery which are defined by different material properties but share several common aspects as well. Regarding bone tools, the primary distinction lies in the decoration of the items, contrasting with the ornamentation of the pottery. While the processes underlying regional variability in the archaeological assemblages is not yet fully understood, various types of artifacts show differences in morphology and stylistic features that can be linked to archaeological units. For this purpose, we examined 13 archaeological samples of harpoon heads considering morphological, physical, and metrical variation, as well as the operational sequence. As result, we observed variations in both morphology and decoration, while the metrical structure, the selection of raw material and the operational sequence remain unaltered. This phenomenon could be attributed to a recent process of social differentiation affecting external features, whereas the internal characteristics are connected to technique behaviors resistant to recent changes.

For the last three or four decades, metropolitan areas of the contemporary global North and global South such as Buenos Aires, have experienced profound changes in their social and economic structure. The central areas of large cities were one of the most affected sectors in terms of their material and symbolic reorganization. Primarily, this composition proposes to analyze the mutations that have arisen in the central area of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), paying particular attention to sociodemographic changes. The analysis of the available quantitative information suggests that while the CABA as a whole slightly increased its population in the last three decades (1990-2020), on the other hand, the urban fabric of the center lost residents. A second objective is to identify theoretical guidelines capable of explaining and analyzing this contradictory process. The proposal is to articulate theorizations and categories produced in contemporary social sciences and simultaneously identify structural and functional aspects in culture and lifestyle and the role played by systemic rationality (public, but mainly private) in the modernization of socio-urban areas, activities and practices. The unfinished conclusions seek to both problematize (and rethink) the object-category “urban center” and propose possible (future) lines of research around the delimited object-problem.

Background Access to sample-level metadata is important when selecting public metagenomic sequencing datasets for reuse in new biological analyses. The Standards, Precautions, and Advances in Ancient Metagenomics community (SPAAM, https://spaam-community.org) has previously published AncientMetagenomeDir, a collection of curated and standardised sample metadata tables for metagenomic and microbial genome datasets generated from ancient samples. However, while sample-level information is useful for identifying relevant samples for inclusion in new projects, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) library construction and sequencing metadata are also essential for appropriately reprocessing ancient metagenomic data. Currently, recovering information for downloading and preparing such data is difficult when laboratory and bioinformatic metadata is heterogeneously recorded in prose-based publications. Methods Through a series of community-based hackathon events, AncientMetagenomeDir was updated to provide standardised library-level metadata of existing and new ancient metagenomic samples. In tandem, the companion tool 'AMDirT' was developed to facilitate rapid data filtering and downloading of ancient metagenomic data, as well as improving automated metadata curation and validation for AncientMetagenomeDir. Results AncientMetagenomeDir was extended to include standardised metadata of over 6000 ancient metagenomic libraries. The companion tool 'AMDirT' provides both graphical- and command-line interface based access to such metadata for users from a wide range of computational backgrounds. We also report on errors with metadata reporting that appear to commonly occur during data upload and provide suggestions on how to improve the quality of data sharing by the community. Conclusions Together, both standardised metadata reporting and tooling will help towards easier incorporation and reuse of public ancient metagenomic datasets into future analyses.

Esta investigación contribuye a la reconstrucción del conocimiento y la dinámica del uso de espacios con recursos vegetales, a escala regional, entre 8100 y 4500 años AP en la Puna sur de la Argentina, teniendo en cuenta que durante este período, que corresponde al Holoceno Medio, hubo cambios climáticos que afectaron la distribución y la densidad de parches de recursos y de áreas óptimas/no óptimas o marginales. El Holoceno se caracteriza en la Puna por una marcada aridez que se profundiza en el mencionado lapso, de ahí que se hayan producido cambios vinculados con la distribución de los recursos vegetales. Enmarcado en esta perspectiva, este trabajo se centra en el sitio Cueva Salamanca 1 ubicado en el curso medio-inferior del Río Las Pitas, microrregión de Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca. El objetivo general es continuar el análisis de la confección de tecnofacturas en dicho sitio haciendo hincapié en las áreas de captación y la procedencia de los recursos empleados como materia prima. El conocimiento de las especies utilizadas y su procedencia determinaron los pasos a seguir desde el punto de vista metodológico: prospecciones en torno al sitio arqueológico, colección e identificación de las especies vegetales que se desarrollan en el área, identificación de las especies arqueológicas mediante estudios de anatomía comparada en relación con los taxones actuales presentes en el área, recurriendo al Herbario SI para la determinación de especies no locales.

Se presenta la información zooarqueológica y la tecnología ósea del conchero P 35, ubicado en Punta Entrada, desembocadura del río Santa Cruz (Argentina). El conjunto zooarqueológico, con gran representación de restos de individuos de diferentes sexos y edades de Arctocephalus australis y de Otaria flavescens, refuerza las afirmaciones previas sobre la explotación de asentamientos de otáridos en la localidad. Otros taxones, como los cetáceos, el zorro colorado, el guanaco, los cormoranes imperiales, el ñandú y el cauquén común, están representados en menor cantidad y fueron aprovechados de manera oportunista. La tecnología ósea fue confeccionada en el lugar, con huesos de la fauna registrada en el conjunto zooarqueológico, con excepción de un asta de huemul aserrada. El conjunto de instrumentos óseos y líticos incluye piezas vinculadas con sistemas de armas apropiados para la caza de las especies registradas en el depósito. A partir de la evidencia de P 35, Punta Entrada aparece como un sector costero recurrentemente visitado, que habría funcionado no sólo como lugar de aprovisionamiento planificado de recursos animales muy productivos y con localizaciones conocidas (los otáridos), sino que también brindaba posibilidades de acceso a aquéllos obtenidos de manera oportunista, pero con alto potencial como insumos para la subsistencia humana.

En el centro-oeste de Santa Cruz (Patagonia, Argentina) se han desarrollado investigaciones arqueológicas desde hace más de 40 años. Desde sus inicios, el equipo de trabajo estableció vínculos con las comunidades de Perito Moreno, Gobernador Gregores y Lago Posadas y se desarrollaron charlas y talleres con distintos actores sociales de estas localidades. A partir de diversos factores, en los últimos años se sistematizaron las tareas de gestión y extensión. En particular, se han realizado distintas actividades en las localidades mencionadas y en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, en las que han participado estudiantes y docentes de distintos niveles educativos, autoridades, emprendedores turísticos, representantes de las comunidades originarias y otros pobladores locales. En este artículo, en primer lugar, se resumen las experiencias del equipo de trabajo en relación con la comunicación pública de la ciencia a lo largo de aproximadamente cuatro décadas. En particular se consideran los distintos tipos de actividades llevadas a cabo y los vínculos establecidos con las distintas localidades y los actores sociales participantes. Asimismo, se relaciona esta trayectoria de trabajo con las coyunturas locales y otros aspectos contextuales que incidieron en su desarrollo. Por último, se reflexiona sobre las características de nuestra propia experiencia en la comunicación pública de la ciencia atendiendo a sus alcances y limitaciones.

La gestión participativa del patrimonio cultural incluye diferentes actores y disciplinas con el objetivo de investigar, documentar y desarrollar estrategias de comunicación para su uso racional y sostenible, asegurando su conservación. Se analizan en este trabajo las acciones desarrolladas durante los años 2022 y 2023 con la comunidad de Amaná (provincia de La Rioja) en relación con la puesta en valor de su patrimonio natural y cultural. Como paso inicial, nos enfrentamos con varios desafíos para comprender las necesidades comunitarias y elaborar líneas de acción para la puesta en valor y asesoramiento para el uso público de los bienes patrimoniales. La metodología empleada comprende un modelo espiralado de comunicación significativo, multivocal y participativo; las etapas se articulan desde el inicio del proceso de gestión en forma amplia y multilineal. Los ejes para llegar al público se orientaron en base al para qué y qué queremos contar, cómo lo vamos a hacer y qué resultados esperamos conseguir. Para tal fin, se llevaron a cabo las siguientes acciones: la elaboración de circuitos turísticos dentro del pueblo, actividades de transferencia en la escuela y la documentación de las tradiciones del pueblo.

Presentamos los primeros resultados de una investigación, cuyo objetivo principal fue estudiar las diferentes fuentes de arcilla de Antofagasta de la Sierra y evaluar su potencialidad para la manufactura cerámica. A partir del mapeo de los distintos afloramientos, la toma de muestras, el análisis petrográfico y la arqueología experimental, se caracterizaron distintas fuentes de arcilla de Antofagasta de la Sierra. Los primeros estudios posibilitaron ubicar y analizar los componentes de las mismas y la experimentación permitió evaluar los comportamientos de las arcillas en los procesos de manufactura cerámica, antes y después de la cocción. Los análisis implementados permitieron establecer diferentes categorías en función de su adecuación a la producción cerámica: arcillas muy aptas, arcillas poco aptas y arcillas no aptas. Los resultados de la experimentación permitieron observar que esta diferencia tiene lugar luego del proceso de cocción, en el cual muchas de las arcillas que presentan una buena a muy buena plasticidad y maleabilidad, se disgregan y descascaran dando como resultado cerámicas con poca dureza y una textura disgregable debido, en todos los casos, a la presencia de inclusiones de carbonatos de tamaños medianos a grandes. Esta información resultará útil a la hora de abordar el estudio de la tecnología cerámica, al proporcionar datos de referencia para el análisis arqueológico, como la composición, la granulometría y la abundancia de los clastos presentes en las arcillas locales.

This study explores the reworking of projectile point stems by hunter-gatherers in southeastern South America. Techniques employed to rework stems included pressure and percussion flaking and, eventually, light abrasion of fractured sections, methods that were applied opportunistically to resolve various types of stem fractures. Although the local literature has often overlooked the presence of reworked stems, it appears that point rebasing was a relatively common practice in the region, especially for points made from microcrystalline rocks and other highly silicified rocks. The reworking of points was likely carried out to preserve highquality raw materials and to reduce the cost of manufacturing new points. Although the recognition of reworked stems can be challenging, it is a crucial task for subsequent morphometric and stylistic analysis. This allows for the identification of one of the sources of point variation thus avoiding an artificial increase in the variability of the original designs.