Abstract

ALBERTI, Jimena  and  CARRANZA, Eugenia. First characterization of lithic assemblages from shell middens in San Matías Gulf Coast (Río Negro, Argentina). Zaranda ideas [online]. 2014, vol.10, pp.47-64. ISSN 1853-1296.

According to geological and geomorphological differences, the coast of San Matías Gulf can be divided into two sectors (North and West). These differences result in a differential availability of resources, which would have resulted in a different space use by hunter-gatherers who occupied the coast during the middle and late Holocene (Favier Dubois and Borella 2011). This would be expressed, among other indicators, in the lithic technology manufactured, used and discarded at the sites. In this paper we characterize the lithic assemblages from archaeological middens in different parts of the Gulf. The results indicate that the technology discarded in these middens is an expedient one, and the rocks used in both sectors of the coast were the locally available ones. The majority of the sample does not present postdepositional alterations and carbonation is present in a higher percentage than corrasion, which may indicate rapid burial of these artifacts within the shell middens.

Keywords : Lithic technology; Lithic raw materials; Shell middens; San Matías Gulf; Middle and Late Holocene.

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