Human burials, milling practices, knapping and plant consumption. Arroyo de la Palma 1 site as a case study (late Holocene, sierras de Córdoba, Argentina)

This paper presents the results of the archaeological, bioanthropological and archaeobotanical analysis of Arroyo de la Palma 1 site, located in the Copina area, south of Punilla Department, Cordoba Province, Argentina. The analysis focused on technologies, the consumption of plant species, and the health and lifestyles of two adult male individuals (dated to 2707 +/- 61 14C years BP and 680 +/- 40 14C years BP) recovered in association with millstone structures and knapped lithic material. Both individuals present several lesions of infectious, congenital, and degenerative origin. Lithic analysis indicates the presence of 34 grinding structures and some lithics artifacts. Archaeobotanical analysis enabled the morphotypes found to be related to the presence of wild plants in the first individual, and both wild and cultivated in the second one. In summary, results indicate a multipurpose site where activities related to the domestic and funerary sphere, the continuity in the consumption and handling of wild vegetables, and the processing of local raw materials were performed for more than two thousand years.