Berberis sp. in the American extreme south: Archaeobotanical record of use by Patagonian hunter-gatherers during the Holocene

Abstract

The general objective of this work is to deepen the knowledge on the use of Berberis sp. wood among Patagonian hunter-gatherer societies during the Holocene. For this purpose, the presence of Berberis sp. remains in the Patagonian archeological sites and the existence of artifacts made with Berberis sp. wood belonging to the ethnographic collections are studied. The physical properties (density) of the wood of these shrubs are also analyzed. The results obtained show the recovery of Berberis sp. remains in 24 Patagonian archaeological sites. At the sites Cerro Casa de Piedra 5 and Cerro Casa de Piedra 7, different types of Berberis sp. remains and wooden artifacts were recovered. The basal density of the samples of Berberis sp. taken allows them to be considered as medium-heavy woods of medium density. Finally, the results achieved show the selection and use of Berberis sp. wood as raw material for artifact manufacture from early times (9,390 ± 40 BP) until the contact with Europeans (19th century-early 20th century).