Molienda en el piedemonte de la meseta de Somuncurá (Noreste de Patagonia) a partir del estudio de colecciones y de microrrestos vegetales

Throughout the Somuncurá plateau and its foothills, stone constructions represent someof the most visible archaeological evidence. Although they have been linked to the communal hunting of guanacos, their morphological diversity and association with different remains could indicate other functions. Recent advances in the archaeobotany of Argentinian Patagonia have suggested agreater importance of plant resources for hunter-gatherer groups in the region, increasingthe species consumed and associated practices. This work evaluates the role of grinding in the diet of hunter-gatherergroupswho inhabited the foothills of the Somuncurá plateau through the analysis of two archaeological collections. Alithic techno-morphological and morpho-functional study,and an archaeobotanical analysis of plant microremains were carried out. The results suggest that basalt is the main used raw materialand thatdifferencesin the final size of the artefacts may be related tothe distance from the lithic source areas. Archaeobotanicalanalyses show the processing of local species (Neltumasp.),non-local species (Araucaria araucana(Molina) K. Koch),andseaweed remains recoveredfor the first time,that were possibly used as condiments. Finally, the spatial association of one of the collections with stone structures wouldsupport the hypothesis that some of the constructions could havehad residential functions

Archaeological and Geological Studies · Plant Taxonomy and Phylogenetics

• Food plants and their past circulation in Central-Western Argentinean Patagonia

  Open Access•D Saghessi, Denise Evans et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science…•2026

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