Ancient genomes in South Patagonia reveal population movements associated with technological shifts and geography.

Archaeological research documents major technological shifts among people who have lived in the southern tip of South America (South Patagonia) during the last thirteen millennia, including the development of marine-based economies and changes in tools and raw materials. It has been proposed that movements of people spreading culture and technology propelled some of these shifts, but these hypotheses have not been tested with ancient DNA. Here we report genome-wide data from 20 ancient individuals, and co-analyze it with previously reported data.

Modern guanaco (Lama guanicoe, Camelidae) bezoars: An approach towards identification in the fossil record.

Objective: Provide a frame of reference for the recognition and interpretation of bezoars recovered from archeological and paleontological sites.

Materials: 49 bezoars from extant guanaco (Lama guanicoe) were analyzed and compared with five objects previously identified as bezoars, recovered from Holocene archeological sites of the Argentine Pampas.

Methods: Size, shape, weight, external and internal features, and mineralogical composition were evaluated in both modern and archeological bezoars using nondestructive and destructive methods.