The occupation of mountain environments south of the Upper Santa Cruz River basin

FRANCO, NORA VIVIANA

Florianópolis

Congreso; XVI World Congress UISPP; 2011

Union Internacional de Ciencias Prehistóricas y Protohistóricas

The Baguales range is part of the Andean region and is located south of the upper Santa Cruz river basin. Because of glacier activity, secondary potential raw material sources are abundant at this area. In order to understand human strategies of raw material utilization, a good knowledge of the regional structure of lithic resources was needed. Exploratory results were obtained from the application of a regional methodology of sampling of raw material sources along with geochemical analysis, permitting the identification of differences among the provenience of different varieties of rocks. The first evidences of occupation of the Baguales range date from ca. 3,800 years B.P. At this time, technological similarities were identified among different sites -including burial ones- both in highlands and lowlands, indicating their integration within the home-range of hunter-gatherers. Raw material provenance studies as well as data on quantities, classes and sizes of artifacts suggest direct acquisition of some raw materials in the highlands since at least 6,100 years B.P., indicating previous knowledge of the Baguales range.