EXPLOTACIÓN DE AVES VOLADORAS EN LA ESTEPA DE PATAGONIA CONTINENTAL AUSTRAL: CAUQUENES (CHLOEPHAGA SP.) EN EL SITIO LAGUNA LAS VEGAS (CUENCA MEDIA DEL RÍO COYLE, ARGENTINA).

The results of the study carried out on cauquén -goose- (Chloephaga sp.) bone remains recovered from the open-air archaeological site of Laguna Las Vegas, middle basin of the Coyle River (Santa Cruz), are presented. We evaluate our findings in the light of supra-regional, regional and local archaeological and taphonomic information. The frequency of remains (NISP= 23), together with age patterning in skeletal parts displaying evidence for consumption (four adults and two juveniles), suggest that the cauquén would have been obtained near the site during the reproductive season, and that the parts with the highest economic yield were subsequently transported to the site together with the associated anatomical units. New radiocarbon dating of one cauquén bone plus another on a guanaco bone (Lama guanicoe) suggest approximate contemporaneity of the archaeological materials at the site, which date to around 3200 years BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]