Paleoenvironmental studies of Alfar archaeological site (mid-Holocene; Southeastern Pampas of Argentina): Silicophytoliths, gastropods and archaeofauna

The firsts results of the silicophytolith research carried out for the sedimentary sequence of Alfar archaeological site are presented. The aims of this study were to identify the vegetation associations and to contribute to the reconstruction of past environments during the hunter-gatherers' occupation of the site in the mid-Holocene. This siliceous microfossil data is also complemented with other proxy evidence derived from the freshwater gastropods recorded throughout the stratigraphic sequence and the zooarchaeological study of the bone remains recovered from the site. The results of this multi-proxy approach show the existence of a permanent cover of gramineous communities on a lagoon margin and a considerable pedogenetic activity during human occupation. The obtained data indicates that the human populations occupied Alfar site under dry conditions, but with the warm climate of the mid-Holocene Hypsithermal. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.