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INTRODUCTION: This study assesses the biological affinity between Late Holocene hunter-gatherers that inhabited the region of the lower Paraná wetland (Argentina) at the end of the Late Holocene (1800-700 years BP). METHODS: Cranial nonmetric traits were registered in 159 adult individuals of both sexes. Biodistances were estimated between environmental and archaeological units through Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence, Mahalanobis distance, multidimensional scaling, Fst index, and R-matrix. Biological distances concerning temporal and geographic distances between the archaeological sites were also evaluated through Mantel and partial Mantel tests. RESULTS: The environmental units showed statistically significant biodistances according to a distance spatial pattern but low genetic differentiation between groups. Additionally, some archaeological sites with median radiocarbon dates around 700 years BP also presented statistically significant biodistances. CONCLUSIONS: Gene flow and genetic drift could be responsible for the observed biodistance results. These processes gave rise to different subpopulations of hunter-gatherers with a shared material culture, whose territorial limits could have been reinforced around 700 years BP or earlier.
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Crânio , Áreas Alagadas , Masculino , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Argentina , Crânio/anatomia & histologia , Deriva Genética , ArqueologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: In this study, we analyze breastfeeding and weaning practices in pre-Columbian complex hunter-gatherers from the lower Paraná River basin (South America). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out bone isotope analyses concerning δ13 C in collagen and apatite, the spacing between both carbon sources and δ15 N in a sample of 23 subadult and adult individuals of both sexes recovered from Late Holocene archaeological sites, ranging from 1665 ± 45 to 680 ± 80 14 C years BP. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results indicate that exclusive breastfeeding continued until the age of ~2 years, and weaning probably until 4 years of age. Supplementary foods included C3 plants and probably animal fats and C4 carbohydrates. A high fractionation of 4.9 in δ15 N values was recognized between breastfeeding infants and adult females, perhaps reflecting episodic hyper-protein diets in women linked to men's food provisioning during women's gestational/postpartum period. Additionally, male adults present a higher protein intake than females. Although this difference is not statistically significant with the current sample size, it could be a clue related to a sexual division in food procurement.
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Aleitamento Materno , Áreas Alagadas , Animais , Isótopos de Carbono/análise , Pré-Escolar , Dieta , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Isótopos de Nitrogênio/análise , América do Sul , DesmameRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Although pre-Hispanic hunter-gatherer and horticulturalist (known as Guaraní) societies from the lower Paraná River Delta (Argentina) presented differences in diet, pottery decoration, mortuary practices, and places of origin, differences in skeletal morphology between such groups have never been systematically explored. This work focuses on variations in humeral and femoral external linear measurements and derived structural properties of adult individuals from both societies as well as on variations in body mass and stature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bone length, epiphyseal size, and midshaft breadth were measured in 82 adult humeri and 100 femora from hunter-gatherer and Guaraní archeological sites. Epiphyseal and midshaft robusticity, residual strength, midshaft shape and area, stature, and body mass were then estimated. Mann-Whitney tests were run to compare the hunter-gatherer and Guaraní samples. RESULTS: Male Guaraní individuals presented stronger humeri and more robust femoral and humeral proximal epiphyses than hunter-gatherers. In addition, female Guaraní individuals showed rounder femoral diaphyses in comparison with female hunter-gatherers. Concerning stature, the Guaraní individuals were found to be shorter than hunter-gatherers, regardless of sex. No statistical differences were found in body mass. DISCUSSION: Despite the fact that skeletal variations between Guaraní and hunter-gatherers could be a consequence of differences in mechanical loadings and genetic composition, bone robusticity is also positively correlated with increased age, but as the age composition of the Guaraní sample could not be estimated, skeletal variation between the samples could be a consequence of differences in age distribution.