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Del Papa M, De Los Reyes M, Poiré DG, Rascovan N, Jofré G, Delgado M. Anthropic cut marks in extinct megafauna bones from the Pampean region (Argentina) at the last glacial maximum. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304956. [PMID: 39018301 PMCID: PMC11253959 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The initial peopling of South America is a topic of intense archaeological debate. Among the most contentious issues remain the nature of the human-megafauna interaction and the possible role of humans, along with climatic change, in the extinction of several megamammal genera at the end of the Pleistocene. In this study, we present the analysis of fossil remains with cutmarks belonging to a specimen of Neosclerocalyptus (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae), found on the banks of the Reconquista River, northeast of the Pampean region (Argentina), whose AMS 14C dating corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum (21,090-20,811 cal YBP). Paleoenvironmental reconstructions, stratigraphic descriptions, absolute chronological dating of bone materials, and deposits suggest a relatively rapid burial event of the bone assemblage in a semi-dry climate during a wet season. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the cut marks, reconstruction of butchering sequences, and assessments of the possible agents involved in the observed bone surface modifications indicate anthropic activities. Our results provide new elements for discussing the earliest peopling of southern South America and specifically for the interaction between humans and local megafauna in the Pampean region during the Last Glacial Maximum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Del Papa
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, División Antropología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Martin De Los Reyes
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, División Paleontología Vertebrados, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
- Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA), 25 de mayo 1143, San Martín, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel G. Poiré
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), CONICET—UNLP, Diagonal 113 n°275, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Nicolás Rascovan
- Institut Pasteur, Université de Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 2000, Microbial Paleogenomics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
| | - Guillermo Jofré
- Repositorio Paleontológico Ramón Segura, Merlo, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Miguel Delgado
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, División Antropología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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2
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Labarca R, Frugone-Álvarez M, Vilches L, Blanco JF, Peñaloza Á, Godoy-Aguirre C, Lizama-Catalán Á, Oyarzo C, Tornero C, González-Guarda E, Delgado A, Sepúlveda M, Soto-Huenchuman P. Taguatagua 3: A new late Pleistocene settlement in a highly suitable lacustrine habitat in central Chile (34°S). PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302465. [PMID: 38776357 PMCID: PMC11111044 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
We present the results of the excavations and analyses of the diverse and exceptional archaeological assemblage of Taguatagua 3, a new late Pleistocene site located in the ancient Tagua Tagua lake in Central Chile (34°S). The anthropogenic context is constrained in a coherently dated stratigraphic deposit which adds new information about the mobility, subsistence strategies, and settlement of the early hunter-gatherers of southern South America. The age model constructed, as well as radiocarbon dates obtained directly from a combustion structure, indicate that the human occupation occurred over a brief time span around 12,440-12,550 cal yr BP. Considering taphonomic, geoarchaeological, lithic, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological evidence, as well as the spatial distribution combined with ethnographic data, we interpret Taguatagua 3 as a logistic and temporary camp associated mainly with gomphothere hunting and butchering. Nevertheless, several other activities were carried out here as well, such as hide and/or bone preparation, small vertebrate and plant processing and consumption, and red ochre grinding. Botanical and eggshell remains suggest that the anthropic occupation occurred during the dry season. Considering the contemporaneous sites recorded in the basin, we conclude that the ancient Tagua Tagua lake was a key location along the region's early hunter-gatherer mobility circuits. In this context, it acted as a recurrent hunting/scavenging place during the Late Pleistocene due to its abundant, diverse, and predictable resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Labarca
- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Matías Frugone-Álvarez
- Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Ambiental, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | | | | | - Ángela Peñaloza
- Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Carolina Godoy-Aguirre
- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | | | - Carlos Tornero
- Department of Prehistory, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain
| | | | - Ayelen Delgado
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marcela Sepúlveda
- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Tarapacá, Iquique, Chile
| | - Paula Soto-Huenchuman
- Facultad de Ciencias, Laboratorio de Ontogenia y Filogenia, Red Paleontológica U-Chile, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Unidad de Patrimonio Paleontológico, Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales, Santiago, Chile
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3
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O'Keefe FR, Dunn RE, Weitzel EM, Waters MR, Martinez LN, Binder WJ, Southon JR, Cohen JE, Meachen JA, DeSantis LRG, Kirby ME, Ghezzo E, Coltrain JB, Fuller BT, Farrell AB, Takeuchi GT, MacDonald G, Davis EB, Lindsey EL. Pre-Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation at Rancho La Brea linked to fire-driven state shift. Science 2023; 381:eabo3594. [PMID: 37590347 DOI: 10.1126/science.abo3594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
The cause, or causes, of the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions have been difficult to establish, in part because poor spatiotemporal resolution in the fossil record hinders alignment of species disappearances with archeological and environmental data. We obtained 172 new radiocarbon dates on megafauna from Rancho La Brea in California spanning 15.6 to 10.0 thousand calendar years before present (ka). Seven species of extinct megafauna disappeared by 12.9 ka, before the onset of the Younger Dryas. Comparison with high-resolution regional datasets revealed that these disappearances coincided with an ecological state shift that followed aridification and vegetation changes during the Bølling-Allerød (14.69 to 12.89 ka). Time-series modeling implicates large-scale fires as the primary cause of the extirpations, and the catalyst of this state shift may have been mounting human impacts in a drying, warming, and increasingly fire-prone ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Robin O'Keefe
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Regan E Dunn
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Elic M Weitzel
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Michael R Waters
- Center for the Study of the First Americans, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Lisa N Martinez
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Wendy J Binder
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - John R Southon
- Department of Earth System Science, University California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Joshua E Cohen
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Pace University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Julie A Meachen
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Anatomy, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA, USA
| | - Larisa R G DeSantis
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Matthew E Kirby
- Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA
| | - Elena Ghezzo
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics, and Statistics, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Venice, Italy
- Department of Earth Sciences, University Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Joan B Coltrain
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Benjamin T Fuller
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
| | - Aisling B Farrell
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Gary T Takeuchi
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Glen MacDonald
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Edward B Davis
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics, and Statistics, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Venice, Italy
- Department of Earth Sciences, University Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Emily L Lindsey
- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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4
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Borrero LA. The ephemeral record: The role of opportunistic animal resources in the archaeology of Pampa and Patagonia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2208971120. [PMID: 37399386 PMCID: PMC10334724 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2208971120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The acquisition of opportunistic animal resources by hunter-gatherers-such as scavenged carcasses-is a well-known subsistence strategy. It is frequently mentioned in the context of the history of early human evolution, but not regularly considered among the strategies utilized by more recent foragers of the Southern Cone of South America. Historical and ethnographic information presented here suggests that the use of opportunistic animal resources was a strategy used under a number of conditions but only partially documented in the archaeological literature. We also present archaeological evidence from four sites-Guardia del Río, Paso Otero 1, Ponsonby, and Myren-in different Pampean and Patagonian settings where relevant guanaco (Lama guanicoe) bone assemblages were recovered. These sites record minimal anthropic involvement, basically cut marks on some guanaco bones accompanied by few stone tools, that we interpret as evidence for access and use of water logged immobilized or recently dead animals. Archaeological evidence for the use of these scavenging strategies is difficult to obtain at large archaeological sites that usually result from multiple occupations, since the distinction between the acquisition of actively pursued versus opportunistic animal resources is not straightforward. One conclusion from our review is that the best places to find and recognize this evidence are archaeological sites resulting from ephemeral occupations. The inclusion of these sites gives us access to crucial and rarely documented evidence for the long-term survival of hunter-gatherers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis A. Borrero
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Ciencias Históricas y Humanas-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires1083ACA, Argentina
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5
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Iriarte J, Ziegler MJ, Outram AK, Robinson M, Roberts P, Aceituno FJ, Morcote-Ríos G, Keesey TM. Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200496. [PMID: 35249392 PMCID: PMC8899627 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Megafauna paintings have accompanied the earliest archaeological contexts across the continents, revealing a fundamental inter-relationship between early humans and megafauna during the global human expansion as unfamiliar landscapes were humanized and identities built into new territories. However, the identification of extinct megafauna from rock art is controversial. Here, we examine potential megafauna depictions in the rock art of Serranía de la Lindosa, Colombian Amazon, that includes a giant sloth, a gomphothere, a camelid, horses and three-toed ungulates with trunks. We argue that they are Ice Age rock art based on the (i) naturalistic appearance and diagnostic morphological features of the animal images, (ii) late Pleistocene archaeological dates from La Lindosa confirming the contemporaneity of humans and megafauna, (iii) recovery of ochre pigments in late Pleistocene archaeological strata, (iv) the presence of most megafauna identified in the region during the late Pleistocene as attested by archaeological and palaeontological records, and (v) widespread depiction of extinct megafauna in rock art across the Americas. Our findings contribute to the emerging picture of considerable geographical and stylistic variation of geometric and figurative rock art from early human occupations across South America. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the early human history of tropical South America. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Iriarte
- Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Michael J Ziegler
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Alan K Outram
- Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Mark Robinson
- Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Gaspar Morcote-Ríos
- Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - T Michael Keesey
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
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6
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A New Glyptodont (Xenarthra: Cingulata) from the Late Miocene of Argentina: New Clues About the Oldest Extra-Patagonian Radiation in Southern South America. J MAMM EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09599-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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7
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Prates L, Perez SI. Late Pleistocene South American megafaunal extinctions associated with rise of Fishtail points and human population. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2175. [PMID: 33846353 PMCID: PMC8041891 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22506-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In the 1970s, Paul Martin proposed that big game hunters armed with fluted projectile points colonized the Americas and drove the extinction of megafauna. Around fifty years later, the central role of humans in the extinctions is still strongly debated in North American archaeology, but little considered in South America. Here we analyze the temporal dynamic and spatial distribution of South American megafauna and fluted (Fishtail) projectile points to evaluate the role of humans in Pleistocene extinctions. We observe a strong relationship between the temporal density and spatial distribution of megafaunal species stratigraphically associated with humans and Fishtail projectile points, as well as with the fluctuations in human demography. On this basis we propose that the direct effect of human predation was the main factor driving the megafaunal decline, with other secondary, but necessary, co-occurring factors for the collapse of the megafaunal community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciano Prates
- grid.423606.50000 0001 1945 2152Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina ,grid.9499.d0000 0001 2097 3940División Arqueología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
| | - S. Ivan Perez
- grid.423606.50000 0001 1945 2152Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina ,grid.9499.d0000 0001 2097 3940División Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
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8
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Toledo N, Boscaini A, Pérez LM. The dermal armor of mylodontid sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from Cueva del Milodón (Última Esperanza, Chile). J Morphol 2021; 282:612-627. [PMID: 33569815 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 01/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Dermal ossifications (osteoderms, dermal ossicles, osteoscutes) appear independently in various tetrapod lineages. In mammals, however, dermal ossifications are only present in some members of Xenarthra. This clade includes Cingulata (armadillos and their relatives), and Pilosa, including Vermilingua (anteaters) and Folivora (sloths). In extant xenarthrans, osteoderms are invariably present in cingulates whereas they are absent in pilosans. Among extinct sloths, however, a limited number of taxa possessed dermal ossifications. Records of mummified skins of ground sloths bearing osteoderms found in Cueva del Milodón (Southern Chile), with a late Pleistocene age, allowed us to analyze their micro- and macroscopic morphology. The main goal of this study is to closely examine a portion of a mylodontid skin portion using radiography. The arrangement, morphology and internal structure of the ossicles are analyzed and the results are discussed in the context of previous research. The results we obtained indicate that ossicles vary in shape and size, and the integument has four different patterns of arrangement of the ossicles: that is, areas without ossicles, disorganized ossicles, rows, and mosaic areas. The latter has two variants, with clusters of ossicles forming rosettes or stars. Thin sections of the ossicles allowed us to recognize and describe anatomical features of the bone and its mode of growth. Finally, paleobiological and functional considerations of the dermal armor are discussed along with its phylogenetic and chronological implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Néstor Toledo
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Av. 60 and 122, La Plata, Buenos Aires, B1900FWA, Argentina.,Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alberto Boscaini
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA-CONICET), DEGE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Int. Guiraldes 2160, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Leandro Martín Pérez
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.,División Paleozoología Invertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Av. 60 and 122, La Plata, Buenos Aires, B1900FWA, Argentina
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9
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Gregariousness in the giant sloth Lestodon (Xenarthra): multi-proxy approach of a bonebed from the Last Maximum Glacial of Argentine Pampas. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10955. [PMID: 32616813 PMCID: PMC7331707 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67863-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Megamammals constituted an important component in the Pleistocene faunal communities of South America. Paleobiological and paleoecological studies involving different megamammal taxa have increased significantly in the last years, but there are still several poorly-known issues of its life history. In this work, we analyze an assemblage composed of 13 individuals of different ontogenetic stages, and possibly different sex, belonging to the giant ground sloth Lestodon armatus (Xenarthra, Folivora), recovered from Playa del Barco site (Pampean Region, Argentina). A dating of 19,849 years Cal BP allows assigning this assemblage to a period of the MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 2 related to the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Based on multiple lines of research (e.g. taphonomy, paleopathology, osteohistology, isotopy), we interpret the origin of the assemblage and diverse paleobiological and paleoecological aspects (e.g. social behavior, ontogenetic changes, sexual dimorphism, diseases, resource and habitat use, trophic relationships) of L. armatus. Evidence suggests that the assemblage was formed by a local single event of catastrophic mortality, which affected different members of a social group. This record represents the first accurate evidence of gregariousness for this ground sloth, providing new data on a poorly-known behavior among extinct Folivora.
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Messineo PG, Scheifler NA, Álvarez MC, González ME, Pal N, Barros MP, Politis GG. Was the Central Pampean Dunefields of Argentina Occupied during the Late Pleistocene? A Reappraisal of the Evidence. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/20555563.2019.1697620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pablo G. Messineo
- INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (UNICEN), Olavarría, Argentina
| | - Nahuel A. Scheifler
- INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (UNICEN), Olavarría, Argentina
| | - María C. Álvarez
- INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (UNICEN), Olavarría, Argentina
| | - Mariela E. González
- INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (UNICEN), Olavarría, Argentina
| | | | - María P. Barros
- INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (UNICEN), Olavarría, Argentina
| | - Gustavo G. Politis
- INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (UNICEN), Olavarría, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo (UNLP), La Plata, Argentina
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11
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Paleoamerican Occupation, Stone Tools from the Cueva del Medio, and Considerations for the Late Pleistocene Archaeology in Southern South America. QUATERNARY 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/quat2030028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Archaeological excavations at the Cueva del Medio performed during the 1980s and 1990s yielded an important record of both faunal and stone tool remains, as well as data, to discuss issues that occurred during the Terminal Pleistocene. Due to that, the shaped Paleoamerican artifacts collected in the author’s excavations were partially informed. The present article provides unpublished data on the field-work, the results of a techno-morphological analysis of the stone tools, and considerations about early hunter-gatherer societies along with their regional paleo-environmental interactions, as well other topics regarding the regional archaeological process during the last millennium of the Pleistocene. Findings from there have been extremely useful for discussing diverse paleo-ecological and archaeological topics and have extended the knowledge and discussions about different Pleistocene scientific issues, mainly related with flora, fauna, and the colonization of southern Patagonia.
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