Burial places in hunter-gatherers from northwest Patagonia: Hermanos Lazcano site (Chos Malal, Neuquén)

Abstract

This paper aims to characterize the findings at Hermanos Lazcano site and to discuss the results in relation to the regional bioarchaeological record. We analyze bone preservation, sex and age profile of the sample, its chronology and the presence of intentional cranial modifications. Hermanos Lazcano is a multiple burial site dated at 3780 years B.P. and composed of a minimum of 4 subadults and 8 adults of both sexes whose remains were highly fragmented and poorly preserved. We determined the presence of intentional cranial modification of circular and pseudocircular type. The cultural material associated with the burials comprised grinding stones, shell beads, a pendant made of shell, trapezoidal rocks and a lithic sphere. Available evidence suggests that the emergence of burial areas with high concentration of individuals would have occurred in northern Neuquén earlier than other regions of Patagonia, where the oldest chronologies do not surpass 3,000 years B.P.