First records of Chenopodium spp./Amaranthus spp. starch grains and their relevance to the study of the late Holocene human subsistence in Central Argentina

The first Sierras of Córdoba (Argentina) evidences of Chenopodium spp. and/or Amaranthus spp. human consumption were presented in this paper. The identifications were made over micro-botanical remains – starch granules – from grinding tools and pottery from two archaeological sites: Quebrada del Real 1 (c. 3000 BP) and C.Pun.39 (c. 1000–500 BP). Multiproxy data suggest the management of high-nutritional wild plants and the early knowledge of the post-harvest processing technology required to remove the non-edible portion of seed. Thus, the presence of Chenopodium spp. was significant to the study of the subsistence strategies and the small-scale farming spread among the early late Holocene human societies in central Argentina, being especially pertinent as a potential comparison to seek the early phases of food transition in contemporary Andean South America, Mesoamerica, and Eastern North America.