The Late Holocene Bone Tools from Quebrada del Real 1 (Sierras of Córdoba, Argentina)

BUC, N.; D. RIVERO; M. MEDINA

Close to the Bone: Current Studies in Bone Technologies

Institute of Archaeology, Belgrado

Lugar: Belgrado; Año: 2016; p. 80 - 85

The Quebrada del Real 1 is a rock-cave archaeological site located in the Sierras of Córdoba (Córdoba province, Argentina). The site presents a long-term human occupation from ca. 7400 years BP to the final Late Holocene (1000-500 years BP). Bone tools were recovered only in the Component 2, dated at the early Late Holocene (ca. 3000 years BP). The assemblage was composed by different kinds of morpho-functional groups as pin-like tools, spatulas, and bones with perimetral sawing. The cultural context of the Component 2 showed that the rock-cave was used by foragers as a seasonal base-camp, where processing and consumption of ungulates, small-game and seeds were the main activities developed. However, the morphological, physical and microscopic diversity of bone tools suggest that multiples activities were also carried out.Results draw to the conclusion that a broad-spectrum diet and the need to process their by-products may not have been an exclusively phenomena of the Late Prehispanic Period (ca. 1100-360 BP). Thus, its origins may be found during the early Late Holocene ca. 3000 years BP.