Cristina Bayón

Long distance tool stone transport in the Argentine Pampas

Abstract Tools manufactured from a characteristic reddish siliceous rock are present in low frequencies in most early Pampean assemblages in Argentina. They are bifacial tools, including fishtail projectile points, bipolar products, and flakes. They have been found in both excavated assemblages dated between 10,000 and 11,000 BP, and in surface sites. Surface collections from Uruguay also include fishtail projectile points manufactured on this rock. Petrographic analyses were carried out to determine stone provenance. Archaeological artifacts from the Argentine Pampas, and macroscopically similar nodules obtained from secondary deposits in Uruguay were analyzed. The rock used for the artifacts is composed of a siliceous very fine homogeneous mass that is nearly isotropic, and is characterized by recognizable remains of organisms, including silicified gastropods. The samples obtained from deposits in central and southern Uruguay have similar microscopic characteristics. Many of these deposits were exploited as indigenous quarries. Therefore, this reddish rock was transported from Uruguay to the Argentine Pampas by societies who inhabited the region during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Within this context, we discuss the social meaning of this long distance tool stone transport and propose that it was a result of human interaction networks.

Following the Tracks of the First South Americans

In this article, a summary of the geologic, paleontological, and human history of an area of the Atlantic coast in the Pampean plain, Argentina is discussed. This area presents very interesting characteristics. On the one hand, the area includes the Monte Hermoso cliffs studied by Charles Darwin in 1832, which compose the set of localities related to the development of the theory of evolution. On the other hand, in the referred area, an extraordinary amount of human and Pleistocene mammal footprints are registered. Also in that section, four diachronic stages have been registered which depict the evolutionary scenario during the last five million years. Four paleontological and archeological sites are described, showing the palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred there regarding fauna associations and human settlement. The first scenario is found at Monte Hermoso cliff, whose sediments contain fossil remains of the autochthonous South American fauna. The second scenario shows a remarkable change in the drainage system where the fauna is composed of immigrated taxa due to the Great American Biotic Interchange. Both last scenarios show human presence; the third one shows faint evidences (one human trackway and two isolated footprints), and in the last one the hunter–gatherers are fully represented as a well-established population on the Pampean coast during the Early Holocene, registered at La Olla and Monte Hermoso I sites. In this way, the sites summarized in this work allow the reconstruction of four remarkable evolutionary scenarios in South America, as regards landscapes, fauna associations, and human population.

Taphonomic analysis of an assemblage of Lama guanicoe (Artiodactyla, Camelidae) from the late Holocene (Pampean Region, Argentina)

ABSTRACT The present work analyzes the taphonomic characteristics of an assemblage of Lama guanicoe recovered from the fluvial deposits of Chacra La Blanqueada Formation, at García del Río locality. This locality is situated in the middle valley of the Napostá Grande Creek (south of the Pampean Region, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). A radiocarbon date of 2342 ± 47 years BP allows the assignment of this assemblage to the late Holocene. The MNI (Minimum Number of Individuals) and the population structure suggest the presence of a family group or part of a mixed group. The available evidence indicates that, throughout their taphonomic history, the remains were affected by processes related to a floodplain subenvironment. Also, the marks of anthropic activity suggest that the death of the animals was circumstantially used as a low-cost and low-risk resource, highlighting the relevant role of this species in the regional hunter-gatherer communities.

Use of Marine Fauna and Tool Stones in the South of Buenos Aires Province (Argentina) During the Middle and Late Holocene

The exploitation of coastal and marine resources by hunter-gatherers in the south of Buenos Aires Province (Argentina) during the Mid-Late Holocene was examined through the analysis of faunal and lithic evidence in the following archaeological sites: El Americano II and Barrio Las Dunas (Mid-Late Holocene), both located in coastal sand dunes, Puente de Fierro (Late Holocene), located in a wetland distant 7 km from the seashore, Paso Vanoli, located 13 km from the seashore, and Paso Mayor YI S1 (Mid-Late Holocene), located in a fluvial environment 41 km from the seashore. The evidence suggests that, during the Mid-Holocene, in the coastal sites, hunter-gatherers used several marine vertebrates (e.g. pinnipeds and fishes—Pogonias cromis-), whereas in the inland sites, they only transported mollusks and coastal pebbles. In the Late Holocene, in the sites located a few kilometers from the coast, hunter-gatherers carried only selected parts of pinnipeds as well as mollusks and coastal pebbles. Pinnipeds represented a low proportion of the faunal remains. In contrast, in sites far away from the Atlantic coast, hunter-gatherers carried only stones and mollusks.

ISÓTOPOS ESTABLES Y DIETA DE LOS CAZADORES RECOLECTORES DEL SUDOESTE BONAERENSE (ARGENTINA)

Se presentan los primeros resultados del analisis de isotopos estables (δ13C y δ15N) obtenidos sobre restos humanos provenientes de sitios arqueologicos del sudoeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina), datados en el Holoceno Tardio. Conjuntamente se informan los primeros datos de δ13 Ccol. sobre los distintos recursos faunisticos del sector. El area de estudio se compone de diversos ambientes, destacandose los entornos acuaticos como la costa marina, los valles fluviales, las lagunas y el humedal. Los valores isotopicos de los recursos del sector indican que los animales marinos presentan los valores mas enriquecidos en δ13C; mientras que aquellas especies terrestres (coipo, nandu y herbivoros grandes) presentan los valores mas empobrecidos, que son indistinguibles entre ellos. Por su parte, las aves acuaticas y el peludo tienen valores intermedios. El estudio isotopico sobre restos humanos reflejo que la dieta de los individuos fue carnica, que las proteinas de animales terrestres fueron predominantes y que en menor proporcion se usaron recursos marinos. El registro arqueofaunistico del area resulta concordante con esta informacion. Finalmente, estos son los primeros resultados isotopicos para el sector, por lo que constituye un aporte preliminar que debera continuar con la realizacion de nuevos estudios.