Rescate arqueológico de restos óseos humanos en el sitio Laguna Seca 1 (partido de General Lamadrid, provincia de Buenos Aires)

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of an archaeological rescue aimed to the recovery of a human burial. These remains were discovered by local residents in an area located 15 kilometers north of General Lamadrid, Buenos Aires Province. The skeletal bones were found in the collapsed edge of a small slope located on the side of a road, which was cutting a hill. The objectives were to examine the integrity of the skeleton, to infer the mode of burial, to estimate the chronology of the burial, and to evaluate the main taphonomic processes affecting the bone elements. In view of the complex overlapping and high fragmentation of the bones, it became necessary to extract the burial in one block, which was later excavated at the laboratory. Several bone specimens (n= 121) corresponding to a single burial of a female adult dated at 579 ± 42 years BP were recovered. Some of the skeletal elements were articulated, suggesting that it was a primary burial, although it was significantly modified after the burial event. Taphonomic alterations, such as the displacement of the bone fragments, the fragmentation of the bones, and the lost of several anatomical units, have been mainly related to natural processes and modern anthropic modifications.