LAS VIZCACHAS PAMPEANAS (LAGOSTOMUS MAXIMUS, RODENTIA) EN LA SUBSISTENCIA INDIGENA DEL HOLOCENO TARDIO DE LAS SIERRAS DE TANDILIA ORIENTAL (ARGENTINA).

Butchering evidence found in skeletons of the plains vizcacha (Lagostoraus maximus) from Late Holocene (1000 to 600 B.P.) archaeological sites in the Western Edge of Tandilia Range (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) are described. Skeletal diversity, specimen abundance, and cut marks, especially scraping marks and intentional fractures, indicate that entire plains vizcacha carcasses were introduced to the sites where they were processed through skinning, disarticulation, filleting, and fracturing for marrow. Comparison with earlier vizcacha exploitation in the same area suggests that vizcacha increased in numerical importance and that the butchery process was elaborated only toward the end of the late Holocene. This phenomenon is linked to the development of diversification and intensification of areal economies in the Pampean Region where small game was preponderant in the Tandilia Range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]