Fishtail Points, first evidence of late pleistocenic hunter-gatherers in Somuncurá plateau (Rio Negro province, Argentina)

MIOTTI LAURA; HERMO DARIO; TERRANOVA ENRIQUE

Current Research in the Pleistocene

Center for the Study of the First Americans

Lugar: Texas; Año: 2010 p. 22 - 24

8755-898X

North and central Patagonia, eastward to Los Andes, shows an archaeological gap regarding early human occupation. An important landform in the area is a pair of high mesas called Cerro Amigo Oeste (AW) and Cerro Amigo Este (AE). Evidence about the earliest human occupations is from the Los Dos Amigos locality (LDA), located on the top and uppermost slope of AW, as well as another site on a nearby low plain (LDA-5). There are no radiocarbon dates for the locality yet.The most relevant site in the region is AW, located 1350 m from LDA-5. At the amazing archaeological locality situated on the top of the mesa were discovered 116 Fishtail points. Archaeological evidence from these sites rewards us with insight into their thriving lithics industry.