Carbonera, M. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

At the Southern Limit: The Arenal Central Site and the Guarani Occupation of the Parana Delta (Argentina)

This study analyzes the archaeological record of the Arenal Central site, a Guarani residential base located on Martin Garcia Island, within the Rio de la Plata estuary--marking the southernmost extent of this population originating from the tropical forests of South America. The results significantly advance our understanding of these Amazonian forager-horticulturalists in the region, allowing us to explore a range of strategies and material culture expressions developed in an environment suboptimal for canoe-based populations. The study also presents a new set of chronological data, substantially increasing the number of radiocarbon dates available for these groups in the area. Findings indicate that Arenal Central was occupied around 1400 CE, during the final phase of the Guarani expansion across the La Plata Basin. From this location, a vast catchment area was incorporated, including the lower Uruguay River, the Parana Delta islands, and the adjacent Uruguayan steppe. The extensive use of territory appears to have been a strategic response to the islands limited carrying capacity and the scarcity of key resources required to sustain the Guarani ecological niche. While the recovered assemblage preserves the core features of Guarani material culture, a marked decline is observed in the complexity of pictorial expressions--particularly in painted ceramics. This simplification may reflect reduced intra-ethnic interaction, likely due to the low density of Guarani populations in the surrounding area, as well as the challenges imposed by a constrained insular setting. We also compare subsistence strategies and ceramic assemblages from other sites that have been excavated and analyzed following comparable standards. Finally, the results are contextualized within the broader process of Guarani occupation of the Parana Delta and the Rio de la Plata estuary.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2024

A multidisciplinary investigation into whether Andean caravans reached the southern lowlands of the Parana-Plata basin during pre-Columbian times

The expansion of llama caravans and the dispersal of domesticated camelids to extra-Andean regions is one of the key topics in South American archaeology, as it reflects the degree of connection between Andean societies and the surrounding lowland societies, as well as the extent of pre-Columbian pastoralism. One of the primary indicators of both processes is the presence of domesticated camelids in the archaeological record, particularly the llama (Lama glama). Based on somewhat ambiguous historical evidence, it has been suggested that llama caravanning may have reached the northern Pampean region and the southern Parana River valley from an unspecified time until historical times. While the archaeological sites in these two regions have abundant camelid remains that have thus far been identified as guanaco (Lama guanicoe), the possibility of misidentification due to the osteometric similarity between the domestic and wild camelids could mask the presence of llamas in the record, undermining evidence of this potential major expansion of llama caravans. To clarify this issue, we applied a multidisciplinary approach combining archaeological, isotopic, and paleogenomic analyses to determine the taxonomic status of camelids recovered from archaeological sites in both areas. Our findings demonstrate that all the individuals analyzed correspond to guanacos, whose survival extended into early historical times. There is no regional evidence to support the presence of llama caravanning or domesticated camelids in the northern Pampean region or the lower Parana River valley.

genomics↗