SÍNTESIS DE LOS ESTUDIOS ARQUEOMALACOLÓGICOS EN CONCHEROS DE LA COSTA NORTE DE SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA ARGENTINA

A synthesis of archaeomalacological studies on exoskeletons of molluscs recovered in shell middens on the northern coast of Santa Cruz province, Argentine Patagonia is presented. The research have been developed from a regional perspective in which intensive surveys have been implemented to study of the record of shell middens complemented with stratigraphic excavations, which have allowed to obtain representative and comparable samples of the deposits. The archaeomalacological studies involved the anatomical and taxonomic identification of the remains, its quantification, and the evaluation of conservation characteristics, biometric studies and the identification of taphonomic processes that have affected the exoskeletons. It was possible to identify the species selected by the human groups as food, the main processes of site formation of the shell middens and a possible process of intensification in the exploitation of the malacological resource in the southern sector of the area during the late Holocene. The different lines of work have provided information on subsistence, gathering behavior and modes of space occupation. They have also allowed discussing paleoenvironmental, taphonomic and technological issues.