Las prácticas de subsistencia de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras del noroeste de la Patagonia argentina a lo largo del Holoceno

Abstract

The exploitation of the guanaco (Lama guanicoe) as a main staple –supplier not only of meat and fat but also as raw material for making several kind of tools, garments and shelters– has varied in time and space across the Holocene in Northwester Patagonia. The following paper analyzes the available information and proposes an explanatory model that accounts for the subsistence practices of the hunters-gatherers societies that inhabited the study area. At the beginning of the Holocene, two different economic lifeway existed in Northwestern Patagonia. The first occupants of the steppe, who based their livelihood on the procuration of the guanaco with a technology of projectile points, extended to the ecotonal area, where groups with a simple technology and local lithic raw material had been exploiting mainly medium and small game, and scarcely guanaco. The guanaco exploitation was widespread in the middle Holocene in the ecotono forest-steppe and the steppe, but always complemented with small-size fauna, vegetables, mollusks and fish. During the last 2.000 years, the number of exploited species significantly increased with diversity.