Guanaco hunting strategies in the southeastern Pampas during the late holocene

In this chapter we discuss the strategies used by hunter-gatherers to capture guanaco (Lama guanicoe) in the southeastern Pampas during the Late Holocene (ca. 3500 to 500 14C years BP). We summarize the analysis of different evidence (e.g., mortality and skeletal part profiles, sex structure, weapons systems) obtained from four archaeological sites; three associated with the initial Late Holocene (ca. 3400? 1700 14C years BP; Calera, Nutria Mansa 1, and Empalme Querandíes 1) and one with the final Late Holocene (ca. 1300?800 14C years BP; Hangar). Results indicate that during the initial Late Holocene, the guanaco hunting tactics were focused on family groups and troops of males. At this time, bola stones were more frequently used as thrown weapons. On the other hand, during the final Late Holocene, there is a significant quantity of small triangular projectile points linked with the use of bow and arrow, indicating a change in the Pampas weapon systems. The landscape geomorphology in which some of the archaeological sites are located allows us to suggest the use of active traps during the Late Holocene. River junctions and dune ridges were places where it would have been possible to enclose the principal prey of pre-Hispanic indigenous populations that inhabited the Pampas for millennia.Fil: Kaufmann, Cristian Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, María Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; ArgentinaFil: Messineo, Pablo Geronimo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; ArgentinaFil: Barros, Maria Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; ArgentinaFil: Bonomo, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Heider, Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentin

Wave attenuation experiments over living shorelines over time: a wave tank study to assess recreational boating pressures

With sea level rise, erosion, and human disturbances affecting coastal areas, strategies to protect and stabilize existing shorelines are needed. One popular solution to stabilize while conserving intertidal habitat is the use of “living shoreline” techniques which are designed to mimic natural shoreline communities by using native plants and animals. However, little information is available on the success of living shoreline stabilization. This project evaluated the wave energy attenuation associated with living shorelines that contained Crassostrea virginica (eastern oyster) and/or Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) in a wave tank. Four living shoreline techniques were assessed, including a control (sediment only), oysters alone, cordgrass alone, and a combination of oysters plus cordgrass. Time since deployment (newly deployed, one-year after deployment) was also assessed to see how wave energy attenuation changed with natural oyster recruitment and plant growth. Wave energy was calculated for each newly deployed and one-year old shoreline stabilization treatment using capacitance wave gauges and generated waves that were representative of boat wakes in Mosquito Lagoon, a shallow-water estuary in Florida. All one-year old treatments attenuated significantly more energy than newly-deployed treatments. The combination of one-year old S. alterniflora plus live C. virginica was the most effective as this treatment reduced 67 % of the wave energy created by a single recreational boat wake, compared to bare sediment. Natural resource managers and landowners facing shoreline erosion issues can use this information to create effective stabilization protocols that preserve shorelines while conserving native intertidal habitats

Pacific Islands Ichthyoarchaeology: Implications for the Development of Prehistoric Fishing Studies and Global Sustainability

The Pacific Islands—consisting of culturally diverse Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia—is the ideal region to investigate the development of prehistoric fishing studies, as nowhere else on Earth is there such environmental contrasts among island types and their marine environments. We review the ichthyoarchaeological literature for the Pacific and assess developments in recovery methods, reference collections, taxonomic identifications, quantification, taphonomy and site-formation processes, ethnoarchaeology, approaches to diet and subsistence reconstructions, sustainability, and the importance of applied zooarchaeology for fisheries management and conservation. Ichthyoarchaeologists are beginning to work more closely with resource managers, fisheries biologists, policy makers, and indigenous communities to produce holistic studies of conservation management, resource sustainability, and assessments of human impacts on marine ecosystems over centuries to millennial time scales