A reinterpretation of the Pleistocene human and faunal association at Las Buitreras Cave, Santa Cruz, Argentina

The faunal assemblage recovered from Layers VIII-VII at Las Buitreras Cave has been considered as associated with human artifacts. On that basis, the previous analysis had concluded that human hunters had exploited ground sloths at the end of the Pleistocene. A reanalysis of the bones as well as the rest of the evidence suggests that there is no basis for that conclusion. On the contrary, it is suggested here that the lower layers at Las Buitreras are the result of the use of the cave as a den by ground sloths.