Resumen

Lithic technology at El Alto-Ancasti mountains (Catamarca): Contributions from experimental analysis. Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2018, vol.11, n.2, pp.39-48. ISSN 1852-060X.

Quartz is the dominant raw material used for the manufacture of lithic technology in the pre-Hispanic occupations at the El Alto-Ancasti mountains, overcoming 95 % in all the samples studied until now. An experimental analysis allows us to deepen into the knowledge on the quartz lithic artifacts production, emphasizing in the different techniques identified, the direct flaking and the bipolar flaking. The study was developed with the goal to obtain comparative samples to the archaeological sets recovered in some of the sites of the studied area and to explore the potential of this raw material for the manufacture of instruments, considering its mechanical properties. This article will contribute to the interpretation of the practices and technological choices of the prehispanic populations and its relation with the local resources. The aim is to contribute to the knowledge on the human occupations of the area and provide specific data on the subject at a regional level, adding new information about the lithic materiality in agro-pastoral contexts, and paying particular attention to the treatment of a relatively little studied raw material as the quartz.

Palabras clave : Lithic technology; Raw material; quartz; Experimental archaeology; El Alto-Ancasti mountains.

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