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En este trabajo se analizan los conjuntos líticos del sitio Cueva Maripe, ubicado en el Macizo del Deseado (Prov. de Santa Cruz, Argentina), donde se registraron ocupaciones desde ca. 9500 hasta ca. 1000 años radiocarbónicos AP. Se indaga acerca de las estrategias de producción lítica asociadas a los diferentes períodos de ocupación identificados en la cueva, que corresponden a distintos momentos del Holoceno. Para ello se realizaron análisis tecno-morfológicos de los productos de talla, principalmente en relación al uso de las materias primas y al diseño artefactual. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian ciertas diferencias en relación a estos tópicos para los distintos bloques temporales registrados en Cueva Maripe. Ello ha permitido profundizar y ampliar el conocimiento acerca de estas ocupaciones e indirectamente de la relación que estos grupos cazadores-recolectores tenían con su entorno., Lithic production strategies involve choices linked to the procurement and processing of rocks. These strategies respond to social and environmental variables which can be studied through the artifacts. This paper analyzes the Cueva Maripe site, located in the Central plateau of Santa Cruz (Argentina) in which occupations were recorded from ca. 9500 to ca. 1000 years BP. Much of the previously analyzed lithic material corresponds to the mid Holocene. This paper updates the already existing data with those obtained in a recent field work in order to integrate the information of the lithic assemblages recovered at Cueva Maripe site. From this analysis different production strategies for the occupation periods identified at the cave are proposed. The obtained results allowed expand our knowledge about the human occupations at Cueva Maripe site and the relationship that these groups of hunter-gatherers had with their environment., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

Human body manipulation and secondary burials are widespread funerary practices in many areas of the world. The archaeology of the Pampas and North-Eastern Patagonia, Argentina, is no exception. In this paper, archaeological case studies from the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Final Late Holocene (ca. 1000–250 years BP) are presented and discussed. Secondary burials were recovered that indicated an intentional manipulation of bodies. Evidences of cut marks and the coloring of bone surfaces were recorded. The bundles were composed of individuals of both sexes and diverse age categories. The Pampean region and North-Eastern Patagonia witnessed significant hunter–gatherer population dynamics during the last 1000 years BP. Climatic, ecologic, demographic, and economic explanations have been proposed as the background to these changes. In this paper, it is argued that accompanying these factors, as part of a broader socio-cultural scenario, were significant social interaction networks and processes of social complementarity between groups. In this context, it is proposed that the complexity observed in relation to the handling of bodies is part of a worldview in which the body was seen as material culture – as a symbol – that played an important role for the community in group identity maintenance in a cultural context undergoing significant organizational changes. Fil: Martinez, Gustavo Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina Fil: Flensborg, Gustavo Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina Fil: Bayala, Pablo Darío. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina. Ministerio de Ciencia. Tecnología e Innovación Productiva. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Cientifíca y Tecnológica; Argentina

El objetivo de este trabajo es aportar nuevos datos para generar conocimiento sobre las ocupaciones de los grupos prehispánicos en las cercanías de la laguna Sauce Grande (Monte Hermoso, provincia de Buenos Aires). Se presentan los resultados de las investigaciones de los sitios Laguna Sauce Grande II y Laguna Sauce Grande III y se discute la subsistencia, la tecnología y la movilidad de los cazadores-recolectores durante el Holoceno tardío. En relación con la subsistencia, se destaca el registro de numerosos restos de Amarilladesma mactroides (almeja amarilla), que indican el traslado de este bivalvo por 6 km desde el litoral Atlántico y su consumo como alimento. Las tallas estimadas muestran homogeneidad en la selección de individuos adultos. Con respecto a la tecnología se reconocieron 12 variedades de roca cuya procedencia da cuenta de variados rangos de traslados. Los artefactos fueron formatizados por talla y por PAPMU; predominan aquellos destinados al procesamiento de recursos. Las evidencias materiales, particularmente las de las arqueofaunas, resultan novedosas para la región., The objective of this paper is to provide new data about prehispanic occupations in the vicinity of the Sauce Grande shallow lake (Monte Hermoso, province of Buenos Aires). The results of the research about the Laguna Sauce Grande II and Laguna Sauce Grande III archaeological sites are presented. Furthermore, the subsistence, technology and mobility of hunter-gatherers during the late Holocene are discussed. In relation to subsistence, the abundant record of Amarilladesma mactroides (yellow clam) remains is a remarkable fact, which indicates that this bivalve was transported for 6 km from the Atlantic coast and used as foodstuff. The estimated size of the shells retrieved demonstrates homogeneity in selecting adult individuals. In regard to technology, 12 different rock varieties from diverse sources were identified, which means there were various transportation distance ranges involved. The artifacts were produced by knapping and by picking; those intended to resource processing are predominant. The material evidence, particularly that of archaeofaunae, presents novel information for the Pampean region., Sociedad Argentina de Antropología

The study of dental morphology has proven useful for reconstructing the biological profiles of ancient populations. In this work, we present the results obtained by analysing dental non-metric traits in many of the most important Mesolithic burial contexts from the Iberian Peninsula. Currently, a substantial debate is underway regarding the relationship between the different geographical areas of the Peninsula and their different chronological moments. This paper is based on a sample consisting of a minimum number of 437 previously unpublished individuals from 11 Mesolithic and Neolithic sites, whose data were compared with Italian Mesolithic and Neolithic samples and posterior Iberian groups. We analysed these data by chi-squared analysis and by calculating the mean measure of divergence biological distance measure. There were no significant differences among the different regional groups from the Iberian Mesolithic. Moreover, the Iberian Mesolithic samples differ significantly from the Italian samples. In addition, although certain Neolithic samples differ from the hunter-gatherer profile, it seems that they received important biological influence from Mesolithic groups from the Iberian Peninsula, which varies with geography, since the farmer groups from the Mediterranean area are the most distinct from the previous hunter-gatherers. Our results suggest a common biological origin for all the Iberian Mesolithic assemblages, which probably originated during the Last Glacial Maximum. In addition, this profile differs from the one observed in Italian coetaneous groups. Finally, similar to the latest aDNA studies, this study suggests that the Neolithization process of the Peninsula was heterogeneous., This research was funded by the projects HAR2011-23149 and HAR2015-67323-C2-1-P of the Spanish Science and Economy Ministry, and 2017 SGR 1630 from the Departament d’Universitats, Recerca I Societat de la Informació, Government of Catalonia.

This paper deals with the study of the ecology of early Holocene, 9000-4000 cal BC, specifically human and faunal dispersal into the Norrland and Dalarna areas of northern Sweden. It has been hypothesised that this region of Sweden was settled by hunter-gatherer groups of Butovo/Veretye ancestry moving in from the eastern taiga zone and at the same time groups from the West Scandinavian coast were moving north following the melting Weichselian ice sheet. Due to the speed of the melting ice these two groups must have encountered each other in the central part of northern Sweden. This article discusses the environment of these two separate groups and the possible consequences of their encounter, informed by results from the zooarchaeological analysis of burnt, radiocarbon dated bones from sites spanning much of Norrland and Dalarna. A compilation of previously dated sites are presented, and also new 14C dates from excavated sites. The northern population preferred to hunt forest game and held on to it for a long time even if sea mammals were available. The southern population, on the other hand, hunted sea mammals and forest game through the whole period.

Lichens are organisms capable of colonizing almost every type of materials, provided they are stable and have sufficient exposure to light. The growing of lichens on bone surface is rare, due to the speed to which this substrate is weathered and destroyed. For the most part, documented cases occur in extreme environments, such as the Arctic and Antarctic, where bone elements remain unaltered for long periods, although they have also been found in other latitudes. The aim of this paper is to describe the taxonomic diversity of the lichens growing on a set of human bones recovered at a looted Late Holocene aboriginal cairn burial (chenque) in southern continental Patagonia (Piedra Museo archaeological locality, Deseado Massif, Santa Cruz, Argentina). In the analyzed bone assemblage (NISP = 56), a total of 63 lichen thalli were recorded. They were assigned to seven different species, except one case that could only be determined at the genus level. This is the first well-described record of lichen flora growing on human bone remains for South America, having important implications for both archaeological and forensic sciences., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

Fil: Carrera Aizpitarte, Manuel Pedro. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Museo Etnográfico "Juan B. Ambrosetti"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de las Culturas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Arqueología; Argentina Fil: Berón, Mónica Alejandra. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Museo Etnográfico "Juan B. Ambrosetti"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de las Culturas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Arqueología; Argentina En este trabajo se analizan las características de dos canteras líticas utilizadas en forma sostenida desde finales del Holoceno Medio en la provincia de La Pampa: Meseta del Fresco, un extenso af loramiento de chert silíceo, y el Manto Tehuelche, un conglomerado compuesto por rodados de diferentes litologías que presenta diversos af loramientos. Se discute en qué frecuencia y con qué estrategias fueron explotadas las rocas de ambas fuentes. Para ello se utiliza la información procedente de diferentes sitios localizados en las áreas Curacó, Lihué Calel, Bajos sin Salida, Valles Transversales y Centro-este. Los resultados indican que las rocas del Manto Tehuelche fueron mayormente explotadas en el extremo sur de la región de estudio, con predominio de las de mejor calidad para la talla. El chert silíceo, por su parte, presenta sus mayores frecuencias en el área Centro-este, y en menor medida en la región sur. La más baja intensidad de uso de las rocas analizadas tiene lugar en el área Valles Transversales, cuyos sitios presentan, en la mayoría de los casos, afinidad con la subregión Pampa Oriental respecto a las rocas utilizadas y la tecnología empleada. This paper analyzes the characteristics of two lithic quarries used steadily since the end of the Middle Holocene in the province of La Pampa: Meseta del Fresco, an extensive siliceous chert outcrop, and the Manto Tehuelche, a conglomerate composed of cobbles of different types of lithologies which presents various outcrops.It is discussed in what frequency and with what strategies were exploited the rocks of both sources. For this purpose, information from different sites located in the research micro-areas of Curacó, Lihué Calel, Bajos sin Salida, Valles Transversales and Centro-este is used. The results indicate that the rocks of the Manto Tehuelche were mostly exploited in the extreme south of the study region, with predominance of those with the best quality for knapping. The siliceous chert, on the other hand, presents its highest frequencies in the Centro-este area, and to a lesser extent in the southern region. The lowest intensity of use of the analyzed rocks takes place in the sites from the Valles Transversales area, which have an affinity with the Eastern Pampa subregion in relation to raw materials and technology employed. Carrera Aizpitarte, M. P., y Berón, M. A. (2021). Explotación de recursos líticos en dos canteras prehispánicas de la provincia de La Pampa (Argentina): Meseta del Fresco y Manto Tehuelche. Estudios Atacameños (En línea), (66), 7-34.

Central-eastern North Patagonia is characterized by a severe environmental fragmentation due to the scarce and heterogeneous distribution of fresh water. The main local wet zones, the Negro and Colorado river valleys in the North and the Somuncura Foothills in the South are separated by a large and harsh dry land, the travesia. In this paper, we assess the effects of this environmental fragmentation in the mobility of the Late Holocene hunter-gatherers through the analysis of the stable isotopes of oxygen in both enamel and water sources. We analyzed the δ18O of the enamel carbonate of 64 human teeth from 42 individuals from the Negro River valley (n = 30) and the Somuncura Foothills (n = 12) and transformed them into drinking water values (δ18Odw) to be compared with an oxygen water baseline built from the most important surface water sources of the area. Our results show variable mobility, but they also highlight two trends regarding the direction of the movement. First, people buried at the Negro River valley seem to have consumed more regularly water from the Colorado River in the North than from other water sources located farther south (e.g. Somuncura Foothills). Second, the δ18Odw values from the Somuncura sample show east-to-west prevalent mobility along the foothills, far from the northern water sources (e.g. Colorado River). This weak connectivity between the northern and the southern parts of the study area (Negro and Colorado river valleys and Somuncura Foothills) is probably related to the harsh environmental constraints imposed by the travesia. Our isotopic results in conjunction with the available archaeological and ethnohistorical data indicate that this large dry land acted as a marginal space in terms of human exploitation and that it certainly influenced human mobility., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

The main objective of this paper is to assess paleodiets and subsistence patterns in hunter-gatherer groups of the eastern Pampa-Patagonia transition during the Middle Holocene (ca. 6000–4100 years BP). Using a multivariate diet reconstruction model that incorporates δ13Cap, δ13Ccol, and δ15N holistically, human palaeodiets were characterized through the identification of dietary patterns relative to the consumption of terrestrial (e.g., vegetal and animal) and marine resources (e.g., fish). Thus, both spatial and temporal variations in diet and subsistence, as well as issues related to mobility and the use of landscape (coast-inland), were explored. Nine adult individuals of both sexes from four archeological sites were analyzed. The results of δ13Ccol and δ15N for the study area indicated that the individuals buried close to the Atlantic coast (Tres Bonetes 1-colección Donnay and Cantera de Rodados Villalonga sites) exhibited similar values among them, which differed statistically from those individuals buried in sites located inland (Loma de Los Morteros and La Modesta). While the first group of individuals showed a range of marine to mixed diets, the second group was characterized by terrestrial values. The observed differences were interpreted as the product of possible territorial demarcations. For the study area, Middle Holocene dietary trends were also compared with those of the Late Holocene, which indicated temporal variations in the diet between ca. 6000–400 years BP. Finally, at the macro-regional level, the results obtained here showed certain differences and similarities from those of northeastern Patagonia and southeastern Pampa. Such macro-regional trends in paleodiets are also discussed here. Fil: Flensborg, Gustavo Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina Fil: Martinez, Gustavo Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina Fil: Tessone, Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotópica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotópica; Argentina

This paper presents a systematic analysis of the shellfish assemblages recovered from Heshkaia 35, an archaeological site located in the southern tip of South America. Possible arguments concerning to environmental variations and resource depression are considered in an attempt to explain taxa composition and shell size. Results are also discussed in light of expectations based on optimal foraging models and taking into account other factors beyond biological parameters. Shellfishing activities were focused on small mussels, with statistical significant changes in mean shell size along the archaeological sequence of the site. Current knowledge about past variations in sea surface temperature does not seem to explain changes in shell size. Gathering of small mussels appears to be the corollary of resource depression at a local scale. This interpretation reinforces arguments that foraging decisions would have derived from territorial packing on the southeastern coast of Tierra del Fuego during the Late Holocene. Fil: Zangrando, Atilio Francisco Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Pinto Vargas, German. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Tivoli, Angelica Montserrat. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina

The aim of this paper is to present a first assessment of the use of woody vegetation resources for combustion by hunter-gatherer societies in eastern areas of Tierra del Fuego. For this purpose, carbonized wood fragments from the archeological context of the Heshkaia 35 site (Moat Bay, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) were analyzed. Results show a local use of woody material from diverse plant species (Nothofagus pumilio, Nothofagus sp., Drymis winteri, and Maytenus magellanica). A comparison of these results with the data available from other archeological sites of the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego offers a comparative perspective on the management of these resources within the region. Fil: Caruso, Laura Lihue. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; Argentina Fil: Zangrando, Atilio Francisco Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina

In this paper we present the results of the study of 32 projectile points from Hangar site, located in the Salado creek basin (centre of the province of Buenos Aires). Archaeological materials recovered from the site include some isolated human remains, several potsherds, faunal materials, and lithic artefacts. The presence of pottery and small triangular points, together with the radiocarbon dating results, indicate that the main occupations occurred during the end of the Late Holocene. Methodology used included the techno-typological study of the lithic assemblage. Results showed that the outcrops of some rocks present in the sample are found in the Humid Pampas (100-190 km distant from the site) and the Dry Pampas (400-530 km distant from the site). The projectile points show variability in design and size, attributes that have implications for distinguishing different weapon systems (e.g., arrow and dart). In the Pampas region, the Late Holocene is a period characterized by an increasing complexity in hunter-gatherer societies, as it is indicated by long-distance exchange networks and different strategies of intensification and diversification on faunal resources. In accordance with this scenario, we propose that the variability that is observed in the lithic points is a reflex of an increase in the amount of the hunted species in relation with technological innovations such as the introduction of the bow and arrow.

The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed zooarchaeological study conducted on the bone assemblage from the Laguna Cabeza de Buey 2 site, located on the margins of a small shallow lake in the center of the Pampa grasslands (province of Buenos Aires, Argentina). Taxonomic structure, taphonomic information, site formation processes, and subsistence strategies for different occupation events are described and discussed. At least three events of pre-Hispanic occupation (two in the Middle Holocene [6800 and 4150 14C years BP] and one in the Late Holocene) and one in Historical moments were identified. Human occupations are developed in relation to a shallow lake under a climate more arid during the Middle Holocene, which decreased up to the current environmental conditions; humid temperate. The camelid Lama guanicoe (guanaco) was always the most important economic resource during the three events of human occupation in the Holocene, followed by Ozotoceros bezoarticus (pampean deer) and, to a lesser extent, by three species of small armadillos (Chaetophractus sp., Zaedyus pichiy, and Tolypeutes matacus). In Historical times, modern domestic faunal remains (Equus caballus and Bos taurus) were exploited. A subsistence strategy focused on artiodactyls, mainly guanaco, allows suggesting certain specialization through time in the exploitation of animal resources by hunter-gatherer groups in the center of the Pampa grasslands, strategy that contrasts with what is recorded in other areas of the Pampean region. Fil: Scheifler, Nahuel Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina Fil: Messineo, Pablo Geronimo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina

The purpose of this paper is to begin to understand human mobility through rock transport at different times in two areas with different environmental characteristics: the Southern Deseado Massif and the basaltic canyons north of the Santa Cruz River. We will focus on obsidian -which has a clear geochemical signature and an uneven distribution-. Additionally, we will use macroscopical information on siliceous rocks, which until the moment were only identified in northern spaces, although they may also be recovered randomly and in low frequencies in southern ones. During the initial peopling of the Southern Deseado Massif (ca. 10,800 14C yr BP), inhabitants were transporting black obsidian as well as a translucent chalcedony, probably as part of the individual gear. During the Late Holocene, the number of obsidian artifacts decreased in the Southern Deseado Massif, something which could be related to a better knowledge of the high-quality local lithic resources and/or to the existence of higher population densities. Obsidian artifacts are more abundant in the northern Santa Cruz River basin than in the southern Deseado Massif, suggesting the existence of a relationship with spaces located to the northwest, close to the obsidian source, as other lines of evidence suggest. In addition, the presence in the basaltic canyons of artifacts made from high-quality siliceous rocks, more abundant and predictable in northern spaces could also be the result of human movements following a north-south direction. Fil: Franco, Nora Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; Argentina Fil: Cirigliano, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; Argentina Fil: Vetrisano, Lucas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofia y Letras; Argentina Fil: Ambrustolo, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnológico La Plata; Argentina

Hunting groups are closely linked to the environments in which they live, especially in the deserts. This paper explores the relationship between people and desert environments in the long term using key concepts such as resilience, refugia and habitat loss. A thorough paleoenvironmental analysis was conducted to improve our understanding about continuities and discontinuities in the archaeological record of the South Andean highlands. This allowed us to test ideas about the availability of adequate human habitats during the Holocene. Cultural archives such as archaeofauna and lithic technology are employed to illustrate and discuss methodological perspectives for the identification and description of resilient human habitats in arid landscapes in the South Andean Puna. Fil: Yacobaccio, Hugo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología; Argentina Fil: Morales, Marcelo Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina Fil: Hoguin, Rodolphe. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología; Argentina

The following paper presents an analysis of the faunal material from the Arroyo Seco 2 site dated from the Early to Middle Holocene (ca. 8500 to 5800 14C yrs B.P.). The zooarchaeological and taphonomic data presented here provides significant information for understanding the dynamics of multiple occupations at the site, as well as the transition in prey choice for Pampean hunter-gatherers during this time period; from megamammals to large and finally medium sized prey. The Arroyo Seco 2 site contains four different fauna dated to Early and Middle Holocene, including Eutatus seguini, Lama guanicoe, Ozotoceros bezoarticus, and Rhea americana. The archaeological record from the Arroyo Seco 2 site shows that hunter-gatherers gradually shifted their generalist diet from extinct mega and large sized mammals during the Late Pleistocene to medium sized prey during the Early to Middle Holocene. Fil: Rafuse, Daniel Joseph. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina

© The Prehistoric Society 2017 This paper provides a contextual summary of a diachronic analysis of ceramic vessels and hunter-gatherer societies from the final Pleistocene to the later Holocene in a remote corner of the Vitim Basin in Eastern Siberia. An integrated programme of ceramic analysis, raw materials survey, and archaeological investigation is drawn into new models of group mobility and social behaviour. The results challenge widespread assumptions about the relationship between ceramics, sedentarisation, and social complexity. Evidence of these transformations, though potentially identifiable in the archaeological record, could not be associated with the adoption of pottery.

Contexts with monumental features are common in the Holocene later prehistory of central Sahara. These consist of ‘megalithic’ stone monuments with different architectural features and various ceremonial purposes, dated from approximately 6000 uncalibrated years BP onwards. However, some loci of earlier occupation – from early Holocene hunter-gatherers to the first cattle herders (c. 8900-6400 BP) — seem to possess those characteristics of social relevance and temporality as to be potentially considered ‘places to be remembered’. In this paper, I analyse a number of case studies from the Tadrart Acacus and surroundings (southwestern Libya), which indicate a marked dichotomy between mountain contexts and the lowlands, with only the former interested by phenomena of monumentality. While far from being a systematic and exhaustive review, the evidence from these central Saharan contexts may contribute to the larger discussion on monumentality in Africa.

This is an author-accepted version of an article originally published in Quaternary International, 2016. The aim of this paper is to present a dynamic approach to material culture that may inform new perspectives on large-scale hunter–gatherer interactions and migrations within Early Holocene northern Eurasia. Recent analyses of technological aspects on a large geographical scale, challenge previous research hypotheses that derive the Mesolithic of Norway from a purely West European late Palaeolithic tradition, and highlights the existence of cultural traits which were shared by a wide range of hunter–gatherers within northern Eurasia in the Holocene. A new technological concept for lithic blade production, referred to as the conical core pressure blade concept, can be traced in the Norwegian archaeological record from the Preboreal/Boreal transition. It is suggested that the introduction of the concept represents the first migration of people and technological knowledge from the eastern Russian plains and the Baltic into the north-westernmost part of Europe. Yet, there have been few attempts to discuss the Norwegian archaeological record in relation to such an eastern cultural tradition. In the following exploration of how the hypothesis relates to the Norwegian archaeological record, results from technological analysis of previously only preliminarily surveyed blade assemblages from southeastern Norway will be presented and discussed against conceptions of the principles of technological transmission and change.

El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar la explotación del huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) por parte de las poblaciones cazadoras en cuatro contextos ambientales patagónicos: el bosque andino, el ecotono bosque-estepa, el bosque asociado al litoral marino y la estepa. Específicamente, buscamos establecer si existieron diferencias en el lugar que ocupó este cérvido respecto de las otras especies utilizadas por estos cazadores, así como también las formas en que fue aprovechado a lo largo del Holoceno en cada uno de estos contextos. Utilizamos una base de datos de 73 sitios arqueológicos de Argentina y Chile que comprenden 112 registros con restos de la especie en sus secuencias estratigráficas. Los resultados muestran que la importancia del huemul en la subsistencia dependió de la estructura de recursos de cada ambiente y, por lo tanto, consideramos que el papel del huemul estuvo ligado a la historia de uso de los diferentes ambientes patagónicos durante el Holoceno. This paper deals with hunter-gatherer's exploitation of huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in four Patagonian environmental contexts: Andean forest, forest-steppe ecotone, forest-marine coast ecotone and steppe. More specifically, we discuss the place this cervid played among other faunal species used by Patagonian hunter-gatherers, as well as, the ways it was exploited in each of these environmental units throughout the Holocene. A 73 archaeological sites database from Argentina and Chile, with 112 huemul bone records from different stratigraphic sequences was considered. The results show that resource structure at each environmental context conditioned the way huemul was exploited and, hence, the way these environments were used along the Holocene account for huemul exploitation along time.

Mineral colorants are frequent in the Holocene archaeological record of the Southeastern Pampean region, but they have been often unexplored. This paper presents the results of macroscopic analysis, and thin section and X-Ray diffraction techniques applied to mineral pigments from the Calera site and the Zanjón Seco and Nutria Mansa archaeological localities. The use of both analytical techniques as complementary tools is a contribution to pigment provisioning studies and the general discussion of mineral raw material exploitation in the region. In prehispanic times, pigments were obtained from mineral sources available in the Tandilia System and, in smaller proportion, from the Ventania System. Transporting these coloring raw materials to the studied archaeological contexts implied different provisioning efforts through local, middle and long distances, and their procurement was related to local and regional mobility circuits of Pampean prehispanic hunter-gatherers. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. Fil: Matarrese, Alejandra Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina Fil: Di Prado, Violeta Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina Fil: Poire, Daniel Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas; Argentina

This paper summarizes and discusses the main results achieved over three decades of research on paleodemographic aspects of Late Holocene hunter-gatherers in Northwestern Santa Cruz (Argentina). Research has been guided by a model of regional settlement that proposes that, as a result of the progressive aridization process recorded in Patagonia during the Late Holocene, human groups would have reduced their residential mobility and concentrated their settlements in low altitude basins with water availability, such as Lake Cardiel and Lake Salitroso. Paleodemographic questions derived from the model relate to population regional continuity and dynamics and were tested using several lines of research at regional and local scales. The assessment of the chronological information and temporal trends of the archaeological record at the regional level allowed for a coarse grain paleodemographic approach, and acted as a mean to support hypotheses related to changes in mobility and land use strategies. Building on this, several lines of bioarchaeological evidence were used to address paleodemographic aspects of the model, including temporal, distributional, and compositional studies of the mortuary record, isotopic, morphometric and DNA analyses and the sex and age structure of the skeletal samples recovered in Lake Salitroso basin. Results point to a biological and cultural population continuity in the region during the Late Holocene. Also, a reduction in residential mobility would have favored a slight population growth of Lake Salitroso populations during the last millennium. Fil: Garcia Guraieb, Solana. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Goñi, Rafael Agustín. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Tessone, Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotopica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotopica; Argentina

Intensification is defined as the process by which the total productivity per areal unit of land is increased at the expense of overall decreases in foraging efficiency. The Interserrana area is a large ecosystem of grasslands located in the Pampean region of Argentina inhabited by hunter–gatherers from the Late Pleistocene until recent times. The objectives of this paper are to characterize subsistence patterns in the Interserrana area during the Holocene, to compare these trends considering their chronology, and to evaluate if there was an intensification process in this sector of the Pampean region in the Late Holocene. Four faunal assemblages from this area were analyzed. Additionally, published information about local assemblages was compiled and incorporated into the discussion. Results indicate that hunter–gatherers used a generalized strategy during the Early Holocene and the first half of the Middle Holocene. During the second half of the Middle Holocene and the Late Holocene, the diet was strongly oriented to the consumption of guanaco, and an intensification process is not documented for the Interserrana area. The hypothesis to explain the changes in the diet is that there were variations in the guanaco local availability. Fil: Alvarez, María Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina

During the late Holocene, the coastal marine resources of southern South America were exploited by both marine hunter-gatherers with aquatic mobility in the Beagle Channel and the Chilean archipelago and terrestrial hunter-gatherers who inhabited various coastal settings in Argentina. Although the two cultures differed in technology and in historical exploitation patterns, they both used otariids, molluscs, fishes and sea birds as sources of food and raw materials for centuries. Ultimately, their use of these resources, particularly of otariids, declined strongly at different times. Overexploitation has been suggested as the main reason for this pattern, at least in the Beagle Channel, but similar declines in the north Pacific have been attributed to an increase in sea surface temperature (SST). The present paper tests the latter hypothesis in southern South America by using the δ18 O of bivalve shells (Aulacomya atra atra and Mytilus edulis) collected at archaeological sites as a proxy for SST and comparing the patterns of δ18O with the patterns of resource exploitation by hunter-gatherers. Samples were collected from the Beagle Channel and the central-northern Patagonian coast (north to 43° S) to generate two comparable datasets. The results suggest that SST increased in both areas at the beginning of the late Holocene and was slightly higher than at present during most of that period, except during the Little Ice Age, when values similar to those recorded at the end of the middle Holocene were found. The relative importance of otariids, mainly Arctocephalus australis, in the economy of the inhabitants of the Beagle Channel declined as SST increased, but otariid exploitation did not intensify again during the Little Ice Age. On the contrary, the intensity of otariid exploitation in central-northern Patagonia, mainly Otaria flavescens, was unrelated to the changes in δ18 O. Thus, changes in SST are unlikely to be the major driver of these resource-exploitation patterns. Fil: Saporiti, F.. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Bala, Luis Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Crespo, Enrique Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Gomez Otero, Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Zangrando, Atilio Francisco Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Aguilar, A.. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Cardona, L.. Universidad de Barcelona; España

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de los análisis realizados sobre los materiales del sitio arqueológico Gruta de El Manzano, localizado sobre el río Grande, en el Departamento de Malargüe, al sur de la provincia de Mendoza. Utilizando la información generada, se discuten aspectos de la funcionalidad del sitio, los cambios a través del tiempo y se destaca su importancia para la discusión de los temas de la arqueología del norte de Patagonia. Los recientes fechados radiocarbónicos ubican al inicio de las ocupaciones en más de 8.000 años AP y confirman la existencia del hiatus regional para el Holoceno medio. Los materiales analizados muestran importantes cambios en las tendencias de los mismos, especialmente hacia la segunda mitad del Holoceno tardío, donde los diferentes indicadores sugieren diferencias en relación a la movilidad, el uso de la fauna, los recursos vegetales y la incorporación de tecnología cerámica., In this paper we present the results of the analysis carried out with the materials from Gruta de El Manzano archaeological site, located beside Grande River, in Malargüe, southern Mendoza province. Using the new information, we discuss the site function, changes trough time, and remark his importance for the northern Patagonia discussion. The last radiocarbon data place the beginning of the occupation in more than 8.000 years BP and confirm the existence of the mid Holocene regional hiatus. The analiced materials shows important changes in their tendencies, especially during the second half of the late Holocene, were different lines of evidencies suggest changes in relation to the mobility, the use of animal and plant resources and the incorporation of pottery technology., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

Este trabajo presenta los resultados de una investigación arqueológica conducida en la cuenca del río Cisnes (~44° S), valle que atraviesa diversos ambientes del oeste de Patagonia, desde las los límites occidentales de la estepa hasta los canales del Pacífico. Éstos se ponderan a la luz de una reconstrucción paleoambiental que se extiende desde el Pleistoceno tardío al Holoceno. Los resultados permiten interpretar distintas modalidades de aproximación al entorno, las cuales son expuestas, tanto espacial, como cronológicamente. Las unidades culturales definidas ocuparon el espacio de forma discontinua y jerarquizándolo diferencialmente en atención a la variabilidad ambiental. Correlacionamos nuestros datos con la información arqueológica disponible para la región de Aisén y áreas adyacentes. Adicionalmente, se discute el problema de la continuidad cultural y eventual interacción de los cazadores recolectores esteparios con poblaciones del área archipelágica occidental This paper presents results on archaeological research conducted at the Cisnes river basin (~44° S), valley which passes through several environments in western Patagonia, from the westernmost limits of the steppe to the Pacific channels. These are assessed in light of a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction spanning from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Results allow interpreting different ways for approaching the environment; these are exposed both spatially and chronologically. Cultural units defined occupied the space discontinuously and ranking it differentially attending to environmental variability. We correlate our data with available archaeological information for Aisén and adjacent areas. Additionally, we discuss cultural continuity and eventual interaction of steppe hunter-gatherers with peoples from the western archipelagic area.