Chinchillidae exploitation during the first half of the Holocene in the Argentinian Puna: A contribution from zooarchaeology and stable isotope analysis

The aim of this work is to examine the rodent exploitation strategies employed by the human groups that occupied the Dry Puna of Argentina during the Early and Mid-Holocene. We analyze the characteristics of the archaeological bone assemblages and present stable isotope compositions of Chinchillidae remains recovered in two Puna sites dated between 10,600–5200 years BP. Since rodent population dynamics and diets are largely reliant on local resources given their reduced spatial range, these results provide new valuable information to explore local environmental conditions in the past and how these influenced the rodent exploitation strategies employed by the hunter-gatherers that inhabited this area during the Early-Mid Holocene transition. Thus, this work presents detailed zooarchaeological data as well as δ13CVPDB and δ15NAIR values measured on bone collagen extracted from Lagidium sp. and other chinchillid remains recovered at Hornillos 2 and Inca Cueva 4, two archaeological sites dating to this period. These results are compared with the δ13CVPDB and δ15NAIR values measured on modern plants collected in the vicinity of both sites to address rodent dietary change through time as well as human procurement strategies. Our results show certain continuities for the Early-Mid Holocene transition, underlining the importance of areas such as Inca Cueva and Hornillos for past human groups, given the consistent availability of key resources for subsistence.