Initial peopling and lithic raw materials in lacustrine basins and high areas of central-western Santa Cruz Province (Argentina).

AGNOLIN, A.; ESPINOSA, S.; CASSIODORO G.

Simposio; 11th International Symposium on Knappable Materials; 2017

In the steppe and forest ecotone of central-western Santa Cruz province there are three lithic raw materials whose primary and secondary sources are known. These are the obsidian of Pampa del Asador, the siltstone from the west bank of Cardiel Lake and a silicified green tuff located in the southern shore of San Martin Lake. Research has allowed us to recognize that these raw materials have a disparate distribution in the archaeological landscape. Moreover, the characteristics of their use during the Late Holocene have already been discussed (Cassiodoro et al., 2015, Espinosa et al., 2015).In this opportunity we evaluate diagnostic and comparative information regarding their use during the initial stages of hunter gatherers´ settlement in this southern region. The analysis is based on debris, tools and cores recovered in contexts with Mid and Early Holocene chronologies from the low basins of Tar, San Martín and Cardiel lakes as well as the highlands of the Guitarra plateau and the Perito Moreno National Park.We then discuss the importance of these knappable materials in human settlement processes and the initial learning of the landscape.