First records of Chenopodium spp./Amaranthus spp. starch grains and their relevance to the study of the late Holocene human subsistence in Central Argentina

Abstract

The first Sierras of Córdoba (Argentina) evidences of Chenopodium spp. and/or Amaranthus spp. human consumption were presented in this paper. The identifications were made over micro-botanical remains – starch granules – from grinding tools and pottery from two archaeological sites: Quebrada del Real 1 ( c. 3000 BP) and C.Pun.39 ( c. 1000–500 BP). Multiproxy data suggest the management of high-nutritional wild plants and the early knowledge of the post-harvest processing technology required to remove the non-edible portion of seed. Thus, the presence of Chenopodium spp. was significant to the study of the subsistence strategies and the small-scale farming spread among the early late Holocene human societies in central Argentina, being especially pertinent as a potential comparison to seek the early phases of food transition in contemporary Andean South America, Mesoamerica, and Eastern North America.