Heat Treatment of Lithic Artefacts in Early Sites from the Central Plateau of Santa Cruz (Argentina)

FRANK, ARIEL D.

Current Research in the Pleistocene

Texas AyM University

Año: 2012 p. 155 - 158

8755-898X

Heat treatment consists of carefully annealing lithic material when producing tools. It makes the rocks more fragile and flaking easier, especially by pressure. Although some scholars have claimed this technique was known by the first societies that peopled Patagonia, no systematic studies have been carried out to investigate this interpretation. The aim of this article is to determine if heat treatment was applied by the first groups that colonized the Central Plateau of Santa Cruz (Argentina). I present research conducted on the lithic assemblages of the lower units of two archaeological sites, unit 4 of Casa del Minero 1 (CDM1) and unit 5 of Cerro Tres Tetas 1 (C3T1), which have radiocarbon dates ranging between 11,500 and 10,200 rcybp.