Patterns of fish consumption by hunter-fisher-gatherer people from the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego during the Holocene: Human-environmental interactions

This paper aims to assess changes in the patterns of marine fish consumption by hunter-fisher-gatherer populations in the context of environmental change. To accomplish this objective, we used two methodological approaches: first, stable isotope analysis in ancient and modern shells of limpets and m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Bas, Maria, Salemme, Monica Cira, Santiago, Fernando Carlos, Briz Godino, Ivan, Alvarez, Myrian Rosa, Cardona, Luis
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/229208
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/229208
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:FISH
STABLE ISOTOPES
ATLANTIC COAST OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO
ZOOARCHAEOLOGY
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6
Descripción
Sumario:This paper aims to assess changes in the patterns of marine fish consumption by hunter-fisher-gatherer populations in the context of environmental change. To accomplish this objective, we used two methodological approaches: first, stable isotope analysis in ancient and modern shells of limpets and mussels to explore changes in the isotopic baseline and also in fish skeletal remains recovered from different archaeological sites dated to the Middle and Late Holocene of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina); second, a zooarchaeological quantitative analysis of the fish remains from different archaeological sites in the same area and period. Results confirmed that marineprimary productivity in the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego decreased throughout the second half of the Holocene, while the contribution of phytoplankton to the carbon pool fueling the coastal food web decreased simultaneously. The quantitative zooarchaeological analysis and the stable isotope analyses in fish remains suggest that in the Atlantic coast there was a variation in the consumption of fish species from offshore to near shore fish species throughout time, mostly because of the declining occurrence of Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi). This could result from changes in the distribution of the latter and the probability of mass stranding.