Miniature projectile points in the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene.

NORA FLEGENHEIMER; NATALIA MAZZIA; CELESTE WEITZEL

Congreso; XVII CONGRESO MUNDIAL UISPP; 2014

Miniatureprojectile points have been described both in North and South American earlypeopling literature and are explained as toys, practice pieces or ceremonialobjects (Ellis 1994; Gillespie 2007; Hamilton et al. 2013; Politis 1998; Storck1991). In the southern cone they were part of the tool repertoire correspondingto an early technology spanning the Pleistocene /Holocene transition. Miniaturepoints were found at Cerro El Sombrero Cima, is thelargest and densest early site in the Argentine pampas. Accordingto information from both objects and space, only specific activities took place at the hilltop, it was a look-out with control of thesurroundings and a place chosen for refurbishing weapons and discarding tools brokenelsewhere. It is considered a node in past social networks and a meaningful place relevant in non-verbal communication for peoples at the LatePleistocene/Early Holocene. Miniaturepoints in use among Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene hunter gatherer societiesare an interesting case to reflect about people materializing abstractions,encoding visual communication, and developing special practices related toparticular places. Miniaturizing reduces detailand demands selection.