The Missing Mammals of Cerro Azul (Guaviare, Colombia): Extreme Fragmentation in Neotropical Zooarchaeological Assemblages

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ongoing research by the LASTJOURNEY project has investigated multiple archaeological sites located near rock art panels in the Serranía La Lindosa, Colombia, to explore human-environmental interactions during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene transition. Due to severe taphonomic conditions in the Colombian Amazon, only one of these sites, Cerro Azul, has produced zooarchaeological materials. Preliminary analysis of this assemblage identified the presence of fish, reptiles, and small mammals (Morcote Ríos et al 2021). Curiously absent, however, are many of medium and large mammal species depicted in the painted rock art just meters away. Rather than reflect hunting practices or dietary preferences, it is suggested that absence of these animals is the results of neotropical taphonomic conditions. New analyses of unidentified bone fragments addresses whether the presence of larger mammalian taxa has been obscured by extreme fragmentation and considers the potential implications for future neotropical zooarchaeological research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38594.0