Advances in the definition of environmental contexts in the Deseado Massif (Santa Cruz, Argentina) and its effects on the modern bone record

Abstract Within the framework of a Regional Taphonomy project in the Deseado Massif (Argentine Patagonia), in a previous work we conducted systematic surveys through transects with the aim of evaluating some of the agents and processes that act on the modern bone record in different environmental units (plateaus, canyons and lagoon edges). These surveys were carried out in relation to the particular problems of our work area, and involved the taxonomic, anatomical, taphonomic and contextual description of each vertebrate rest found. The great variability observed in the preservation conditions on those environmental units, brought us difficulties to generate archaeological expectations. To overcome this, we implement here geomorphological units of analysis defined at a more detailed spatial scale, allowing a characterization of the taphonomic variability in each one of them that represents an advance towards a better definition of the different environmental contexts of the study area. In this work we explore the usefulness of these analysis units to generate a model that allows us to predict the potential that each microenvironment has for the survival and preservation of the bone record. The results encourage us to continue working in this direction with the aim of contributing to the regional taphonomic models in construction for the study area, which address the agents and processes that impact on the formation of the archaeological record in the different sectors studied.