El cuero en la vida cotidiana. Registros de la base orcadas – 1904

In this paper we present the analysis of leather fragments recovered in the excavation of Omond house, a stone shelter built in Orcadas del Sur in 1904, Argentinean Antarctic sector. The objective is to identify them and to increase our knowledge about the process of procurement and use of them by the expeditions that wintered in 1903-1904 carried out by Scottish expeditions and Argentine scientists. Excavations carried out at the Omond house at the Orcadas base (Laurie Island) allowed to recover different types of remains that show the various activities carried out in the area. These testimonies also account about human adaptation to extreme environments. Different kinds of information were available. So complementary ways of approaching it were considered. First, the analysis of raw materials from a sample of leather fragments recovered. On the other hand, photographic and written documents of the participants of these expeditions that allow us to interpret them and to infer aspects of the daily life of the first working groups in the continent. In this particular case we will discuss the characterization and the way in which the leather resource was used.