Abstract

BELARDI, Juan Bautista  and  CARBALLO MARINA, Flavia. The archaeological signal of the forest interior In the south margin of the San Martin lake (Santa cruz province). Comechingonia [online]. 2014, vol.18, n.2, pp.181-202. ISSN 1851-0027.

The highest artifactual densities related to hunter-gatherer forest edge use at the San Martin Lake basin were observed in its South shore, on the Maipú Península isthmus. New evidence from the forest interior shows lithic assemblages characterized by low density and richness. Palaeoenvironmental data indicate that these assemblages had always been in the forest. The continuity of the archaeological signal and the main and expeditive use of locally available rocks are worth noting. Nevertheless, artifacts made on aloctonous rocks (obsidian and siltstone) suggest that the coming into the forest was done from the East by equipped individuals. The occasional and short time circulation using low cost paths is sustained. This last evidence and the great seasonality point to the marginal use of the forest (sensu Borrero 2004). The forest-steppe articulation could have occurred principally during the Late Holocene, when the Tar and San Martin Lake basins were already part of the hunter-gatherer landscape (sensu Borrero 1994-1995). The available archaeological information fits the one registered in other basins from southern Santa Cruz Province and differs from North Patagonia (Río Negro and Chubut Provinces) data.

Keywords : San Martín Lake; Forest; Landscape use; Marginality.

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