Middle and late holocene micromammal pathologies from Cueva Tixi (Tandilia Range, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina)

Paleopathology in bones of very small mammals has rarely been studied. Different types of osseous lesions of mammals weighing under 0.2 kg, recovered from the Holocene strata of Cueva Tixi archaeological and paleontological site (Tandilia range, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina), are described and discussed in this report. Several types of trauma, entheseal changes, degenerative joint diseases, and probable osteomyelitis were identified. The lesions were chronic, indicating that the animals were able to survive a period of convalescence, although in many cases the decreased capacity for locomotion likely was significant. These pathological findings open research avenues for very small mammals that usually are not considered in archaeological disease studies.