Technological strategies and organization of activities in the 357 uttermost part of South America during Late Holocene: a usewear approach

ALVAREZ, M.; PAL, N.; BRIZ I GODINO, I.

BEYOND USE-WEAR TRACES. GOING FROM TOOLS TO PEOPLE BY MEANS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WEAR AND RESIDUE ANALYSES

Sidestone Press

Lugar: Leiden; Año: 2021; p. 1 - 404

This paper addresses the possible sources of archaeological variability in huntergatherersocieties focusing on the consumption strategies developed by coastal groupswho inhabited the southern part of the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego during the LateHolocene. The aim is to explore the potential of use-wear analysis to solve problemsrelated to landscape organization and activity distribution taking into account the boneand lithic assemblages retrieved from five archaeological sites.The results show that these assemblages form a technological landscape that involvedmanufacturing procedures, tool uses and designs. Hunter-fisher-gatherer societiestransformed different resources, such as hide, bone and wood, with different motions.However, the activities performed with lithic and bone tools exhibit an uneven distributionbetween settlements. The data suggest that these differences are not related to the lengthof occupation or dimensions of the site. We also show a lack of correspondence betweentool composition and the activities undertaken in the settlements.Consequently, we propose that: a) implements? use-life and b) resource and rawmaterialavailability and labour organization in subsistence and technological practicescan explain these disparities.