Combining morphological and metric variations in the study of design and functionality in stone weights. A comparative approach from continental and insular Patagonia, Argentina

MARCELO CARDILLO; FEDERICO L. SCARTASCINI; ATILIO FRANCISCO JAVIER ZANGRANDO

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2015 vol. 4 p. 578 - 587

2352-409X

This paper aims to apply statistical and comparative methods to characterize and establish the potential function-ality of artifacts with little or, virtually, no modification, such as lithic weights which are used as a part of fishinglines or nets. To this end, two samples from contrasting archeological and environmental contexts of the Patago-nian and Tierra del Fuego coasts are used. Contour analysis (Fourier outlines) and Multiple Factorial Analysiswere used to compare different data sets and to assess variation ranges. The results suggest that it is possibleto determine differential shape and size ranges. With this information it is then possible to assign these artifactsto different environmental contexts and/or types of fishing gears.