Geochemical Sourcing of Obsidian Fishtail Points: Studies for the Somuncurá Plateau (Río Negro, Argentina).

L. MIOTTI; E. TERRANOVA; R. BARBERENA; D. HERMO; M. GIESSO; M. GLASCOCK

Current Research in the Pleistocene

CSFA. Texas A&M University

Lugar: College Station; Año: 2012 p. 127 - 130

8755-898X

The Fishtail projectile point (FTPP) is one of the main technological proxies used to identify early human occupations in the Americas. These artifacts have a wide but discontinuous archaeological distribution. Several specimens have been recently recovered in the Somuncurá Plateau (Río Negro Province, Argentina), particularly at the Amigo Oeste (AW) site, which sits atop one of the low hills forming the Los Dos Amigos landform. So far, 112 FTPP specimens made from several raw materials have been recovered from AW; of these, 8 were made on obsidian. This record is extremely interesting because the use of this toolstone for making FTPPs is uncommon in South America.