Distinctive Unifacial Technology during the Early Holocene in Southern South America

CIVALERO, MARÍA T.; NAMI, HUGO G.; NAMI, HUGO G.; CIVALERO, MARÍA T.

Archaeological Discovery

Scientific Research

Año: 2017 vol. 05 p. 101 - 115

2331-1959

The early Holocene archaeological record in Northwest Santa Cruz provincein southern Argentina is remarkable in its richness. Among the lithic remains,most notable is a stemless triangular projectile point dating to ~8.5 - 10 uncalibratedkya. As part of a long term program directed to explore and understanddiverse aspects of lithic technologies from Patagonia, this paper reportsnew observations on a set of notable unifacial tools existing in the assemblageaccompanying them. Based on archaeological and experimental data we hypothesizethey were produced from thick flake-blanks with one face totally orpartially covered by flake scars sometimes reaching the longitudinal symmetryaxis. This fact suggests that before being finished, it was reduced by detachingflakes from the edge to its center. This recent technological discovery alloweddeepened on a new regional issue related with early Holocene unifacial toolsthat emerge as a peculiar style of covering unifacial flaking with subtle productiondifferences to other similar implements. Together with the triangularpoints, this particular way of preforming the tool before and/or during the finalshaping might be another distinctive manufacturing technique used byearly Holocene hunter-gatherers in the area.