Knowledge acquisition and its importance to understand technological changes: some examples from the south of the South America.

FRANCO, NORA VIVIANA

Chicago, Illinois

Congreso; 87th SAA Annual Meeting, Society for American Archaeology; 2022

Society for American Archaeology

Chronological hiatus and technological changes are frequent in Central and South Patagonia since the Pleistocene-Holocene transition to the Late Holocene. The presence of chronological hiatus has been related, in most cases, with the existence of arid periods. The presence of technological changes can be due to several factors, such as environmental changes, reorganization of human populations and the entrance of new human groups. The existence of human populations replacements was identified on cultural and genetic basis at least in one case in the Late Holocene. The importance of knowledge acquisition for people entering a new space in order to provide additional information about the reason of lithic technological changes is discussed for different cases in central-south Patagonia. They are analyzed using an organization of technology perspective within an ecological evolutionary framework. Results obtained do not allow to discard that, at least in one of our cases, the technological change identified may be related to the entry of new human groups, which is possible probably because of the huge spaces and low population densities involved.