Techonological organization in hunting/scavenging and butchering sites of megamammals in the Pampa Grasslands (Argentina)

PABLO G. MESSINEO

PaleoAmerica: A journal of early human migration and dispersal

Maney Publishing and Center of the Study of the First American

Lugar: Leeds; Año: 2015 vol. 1 p. 343 - 359

2055-5563

The main objectives of this research were to evaluate different modes of lithic acquisition, use, and disposal using as example three single component open-air sites associated with the hunting/scavenging and butchering of megamammal species, and to discuss the strategies applied in the human?s mobility in the Pampa grasslands of Argentina during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The techno-morphological analysis of three lithic assemblages will be described. In Paso Otero 5 and Campo Laborde the last stages of the lithic reduction sequence were associated with the context of tools? use through a curated technological strategy. In La Moderna, the high frequency of quartz debitage, the presence of expedient tools on-site manufactured, and the proximity to the quartz outcrops is interpreted as a situational behavior produced in response to immediate and unanticipated conditions. During the Late Pleistocene, Paso Otero 5 shows the exploitation of rocks from diverse regions, whereas Campo Laborde and La Moderna indicate that hunter-gatherers had a lower mobility during the Early Holocene.