Campo Laborde: A Late Pleistocene giant ground sloth kill and butchering site in the Pampas (original) (raw)
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Quaternary International 191, 2008
Investigations have been carried out at the Campo Laborde archaeological site in the Argentine Pampas. Some issues related to Pleistocene extinctions and the survivals of some species of megafauna into the Early Holocene are discussed. At the site of Campo Laborde, abundant bones of giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum), some from other Pleistocene fauna (Doedicurus sp. and Neosclerocaliyptus sp.) and very few from extant fauna (e.g., vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus), Patagonian hare (Dolichotis patagonum), and peccary (Tayassu sp.), were found in association with two quartzite tools, 128 microlithic debris from different raw material and two informal bone tools. Each of the species is represented by only one individual and only one bone of M. americanum and one of D. patagonum show cut marks. Different lines of evidence suggest that Campo Laborde is a giant ground sloth procurement site on the border of an ancient swamp, where the prey was also initially butchered. One of the recovered tools is the stem of a broken bifacial projectile point, which would have been used as a hunting weapon. Based on the stratigraphic position, this site could date to the Early Holocene. Six AMS 14 C ages from M. americanum bone collagen, support this age although there is a wide chronological span between ca. 9700 and 6700 BP. The evidence obtained from Campo Laborde as well as from the La Moderna site indicates that some Pleistocene species such as giant ground sloth and some glyptodon (D. clavicaudatus and Neosclerocaliyptus sp.), survived in the Pampas until the Early Holocene. Therefore, these megafauna coexisted with early hunter-gatherers for several millennia and were exploited. r
During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition at ~10.0 uncalibrated, or ~11.7 calibrated kya, the Americas were undoubtedly inhabited by humans from north to south ends. The groups living in that time had cultural and adaptive differences in terms of subsistence and technological pursuits. Particularly in the southern cone of South America, archaeological remains witnessed hunter -gatherers living at ~11.0-10.0 uncalibrated kya. They mostly used the so-called "fishtail," or just "Fell" points, a widespread Paleo-American marker. Despite that, they exploited different faunal species, including extant and extinct fauna. At the Salto Department in the northwestern region of Uru-guay, on the Itaperibí Grande creek shore, archaeological remains of bones and stones were recovered. One of the most remarkable is a fragmented fossil femur of Lestodon armatus, a mega-mammal giant ground sloth. In its anterior face, this specimen shows diverse kinds of marks. However, no clear association among the findings was documented. Then, in order to check the possible relationship between the bone and the artifacts, the specimen was subjected to radiocarbon dating and it was analyzed in detail from a tapho-nomic perspective to evaluate the origin of the marks. The radiocarbon assay indicates that the specimen belongs to the last millennium of the Pleistocene. The date is relevant as it is one of the few assays obtained on a sample from that time. The taphonomic study revealed that the marks were not produced by human activity, hence, its primary relationship with the stone artifacts is uncertain. Despite that, these data make an important contribution to the knowledge about the fauna contemporaneously living with the earliest hunt
Archaeological Discovery, 2020
During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition at ~10.0 uncalibrated, or ~11.7 calibrated kya, the Americas were undoubtedly inhabited by humans from north to south ends. The groups living in that time had cultural and adaptive differences in terms of subsistence and technological pursuits. Particularly in the southern cone of South America, archaeological remains witnessed hunter -gatherers living at ~11.0-10.0 uncalibrated kya. They mostly used the so-called "fishtail," or just "Fell" points, a widespread Paleo-American marker. Despite that, they exploited different faunal species, including extant and extinct fauna. At the Salto Department in the northwestern region of Uru-guay, on the Itaperibí Grande creek shore, archaeological remains of bones and stones were recovered. One of the most remarkable is a fragmented fossil femur of Lestodon armatus, a mega-mammal giant ground sloth. In its anterior face, this specimen shows diverse kinds of marks. However, no clear association among the findings was documented. Then, in order to check the possible relationship between the bone and the artifacts, the specimen was subjected to radiocarbon dating and it was analyzed in detail from a tapho-nomic perspective to evaluate the origin of the marks. The radiocarbon assay indicates that the specimen belongs to the last millennium of the Pleistocene. The date is relevant as it is one of the few assays obtained on a sample from that time. The taphonomic study revealed that the marks were not produced by human activity, hence, its primary relationship with the stone artifacts is uncertain. Despite that, these data make an important contribution to the knowledge about the fauna contemporaneously living with the earliest hunt
Late Pleistocene outcrops exposed in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, represent one of the most informative sources about the paleoecology of South American megafauna. However, there are no records of an accurately dated carnivoreeherbivore taphocenosis. This paper presents preliminary results of a recent excavation at the margins of the Salado River, on sediments attributed to the Luján Formation (Late PleistoceneeEarly Holocene). The fossiliferous strata consist of greenish brown sandyclays deposited in a small paleopond environment that was filled by fluvial sediments, exhibiting abundant organic matter, gypsum and carbonate concretions. Fieldwork yielded an association of extinct large-sized mammals that include the horse Hippidion principale, the saber-tooth cat Smilodon populator (at least one adult and one juvenile associated specimen), a giant ground sloth Megatherium americanum, and the glyptodont Doedicurus clavicaudatus. Four 14 C dates were performed on organic matter (12,100 AE 100 14 C BP), a femur of S. populator (13,400 AE 200 14 C BP), and a cervical vertebra of Hippidion principale (12,860 AE 120 14 C BP), and a pelvis of D. clavicaudatus (12,380 AE 190 14 C BP) situating the site within 12,500 and 13,500 years, approximately. Remarkably, some of the recovered specimens exhibit conspicuous bone modifications (furrows, pits, punctures, striations and crenulated margins) attributed to the activity of a medium-large carnivore. The association between bones of herbivore mammals with conspicuous modifications produced by a large carnivore, and the presence of cub and adult remains of Smilodon, link this felid with at least part of the excavated association.
Quaternary International, 2020
Sloths and ground sloths (Xenarthra: Tardigrada) are among the most conspicuous mammals in the Cenozoic faunas of South America. During the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene, all the megafaunal xenarthrans became extinct. While much attention has been paid to understanding the causes of megafauna extinction, less attention has been given to understanding the impacts of the loss of the megafauna on other organisms with whom they interacted. Paleoparasitology offers the opportunity to look back into the past and observe directly how parasites responded to environmental change and host decline events. The present work is the first paleoparasitological study on megaherbivores dung from the archaeological site Cueva Huenul 1 (northwestern Patagonia, Argentina). Twenty one dung samples were examined for parasites. Samples were processed by rehydration in a 0.5% water solution of trissodium phosphate, followed by homogenization, filtered and processed by spontaneous sedimentation. Additionally, microhistological analyses of three samples were made. The dung samples were identified as belonging to a ground sloth. Ground sloths from northwestern Patagonia were infected by the nematodes Trichostrongylus sp., Nematodirus sp., at least three Strongylida-type species, Trichuris sp., one ascaridid and one unidentified nematode. Also, the results indicated that the diet was mainly based on shrub species (Schinus johnstonii, Prosopis sp., Berberis empetrifolia, Ephedra chilense and Retanilla patagonica), typical of the Monte vegetation. Also, the cacti Maihuenia and the grasses Festuca kurtziana, Hordeum comosum, Stipa speciosa and Poa sp. (Family Poaceae) were found but in less frequency. The host-parasite-environment interactions, the potential parasitic diseases and ecological consequences of the ground sloth extinction are discussed. This study shows the potential of paleoparasitological studies of ancient feces to contribute to the understanding of the evolutionary histories of parasites and hosts.
Evidence of artefacts made of giant sloth bones in central Brazil around the last glacial maximum
Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2023
The peopling of the Americas and human interaction with the Pleistocene megafauna in South America remain hotly debated. The Santa Elina rock shelter in Central Brazil shows evidence of successive human settlements from around the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the Early Holocene. Two Pleistocene archaeological layers include rich lithic industry associated with remains of the extinct giant ground sloth Glossotherium phoenesis. The remains include thousands of osteoderms (i.e. dermal bones), three of which were human-modified. In this study, we perform a traceological analysis of these artefacts by optical microscopy, non-destructive scanning electron microscopy, UV/visible photoluminescence and synchrotron-based microtomography. We also describe the spatial association between the giant sloth bone remains and stone tools and provide a Bayesian age model that confirms the timing of this association in two time horizons of the Pleistocene in Santa Elina. The conclusion from our traceological study is that the three giant sloth osteoderms were intentionally modified into artefacts before fossilization of the bones. This provides additional evidence for the contemporaneity of humans and megafauna, and for the human manufacturing of personal artefacts on bone remains of ground sloths, around the LGM in Central Brazil.
Land of the ground sloths: Recent research at Cueva Chica, Ultima Esperanza, Chile
Ultima Esperanza is a region known worldwide, where some of the best preserved remains of late Pleistocene ground sloths were found. Cueva del Milodón produced a large piece of Mylodon darwini skin in 1895 as well as extensive deposits of ground sloth dung that were sampled several times during the 20th Century. These deposits are dated within 13,500 and 10,200 radiocarbon years. At Cueva del Medio, not far from Cueva del Milodón, evidence of human exploitation of extinct fauna was discovered. Also, at nearby Dos Herraduras rockshelter, several ground sloth elements were found within a tephra layer regionally dated ca. 12,600 BP. This paper presents new data derived from stratigraphic work at Cueva Chica, a site located near Cueva del Milodón, which in spite of its obvious potential was not studied previously. The work revealed more than one layer of Late Pleistocene fauna, where remains of ground sloth, a large felid and other species were preserved. Radiocarbon studies produced some of the oldest evidence for the presence of Mylodon sp. in the region. The integration of these results within the context of the paleoecology of Late Pleistocene Ultima Esperanza is presented.