Acrocomia chunta (Arecaceae) raw material for cord making in the Argentinean Puna

The analysis of cords recovered in the archaeological sites Peña de las Trampas 1.1, c. 8400 years BP, and Inca Cueva 7, c. 4080-4030 years BP, allowed us to discuss the hypothesis that vascular bundles of palm leaves from distant sources were used in the Northern and Southern Puna during the Holocene in different archaeological sites. In this paper we contribute data from two sites. The first is situated at the locality of Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca, Southern Argentinean Puna; the other at the Quebrada de Inca Cueva, Jujuy, Northern Argentinean Puna. The goals in this paper were to identify the raw materials used in making cords, the differences in cord fabrication between the two samples and the temporal and spatial distribution of Puna data with reference to the palm species habitat.