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Beyond white‐tailed deer hunting in Aguazuque: Archaeofaunal data from an archaic site at Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia
Author(s) -
MartínezPolanco María Fernanda
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/oa.2722
Subject(s) - odocoileus , subsistence agriculture , geography , zooarchaeology , predation , holocene , archaeology , white (mutation) , hunter gatherer , hunting season , big game , ecology , agriculture , demography , biology , environmental protection , population , biochemistry , sociology , gene
It is assumed that the hunter‐gatherers of the Sabana de Bogotá focused their subsistence strategies on white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) hunting. The deer was their main prey because it was one of the largest animals in the area. However, there are differences between the early, middle, and late Holocene hunter‐gatherers in terms of their ways of life. The aim of this article is to contribute to a better understanding of animal resource exploitation and management particularly of white‐tailed deer using archaeofaunal remains from Aguazuque site at the Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia dated between 5,025 ± 40 BP (3,925–3,770 cal BP) and 2,725 ± 35 BP (900–825 cal BP). This is a key site for understanding social change in the middle and late Holocene at the Sabana de Bogotá. To describe the faunal set, two indexes were used: number of identified specimens and minimal number of individuals. Contra to models proposing the specialised hunting of big game for hunter‐gatherers in this region, the inhabitants of Aguazuque did not exclusively focus their diet on white‐tailed deer hunting; they used other animal species, such as guinea pigs, and plants played an important role in the human diet of Aguazuque.