Morphological and Functional Variability on the Endscrapers in Cueva Maripe Site (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the end-scrapers recovered from Cueva Maripe site (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina). These artifacts have been repeatedly recorded along the entire sequence of the site occupations; therefore, the following work is focused on the morphological and functional variability of these instruments, to discuss some expectations regarding the permanence of certain kinds of design over time. The results allowed identifying different activities developed with these tools along the Cueva Maripe occupations, as the work on bone, wood, and hide. However, the morphological variability identified was mainly related to different kinds of flakes or blades selection and on the particular features of the edges which would indicate some versatility in design and little functional specialization. These features would account for the permanence of these instruments in the site from the early Holocene, as well as at a regional level in the central plateau of Santa Cruz.

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo el estudio de los raspadores recuperados del sitio arqueológico Cueva Maripe (Prov. De Santa Cruz, Argentina), dado que se registran recurrentemente a lo largo de toda la secuencia de ocupación del sitio. Por lo tanto, el siguiente trabajo se encuentra focalizado en la variabilidad morfológica de estos conjuntos y su relación con la variabilidad funcional, a fin de discutir expectativas en cuanto al porqué de la permanencia de determinadas formas de diseño a través del tiempo. Los resultados alcanzados permitieron identificar el desarrollo de diferentes tareas a partir de estos instrumentos en las distintas ocupaciones de Cueva Maripe, desde el trabajo sobre hueso y madera hasta el tratamiento de pieles o cueros. Sin embargo, las diferencias morfológicas identificadas, principalmente en la selección de formas bases, como en las características particulares de los filos utilizados, permitirían plantear cierta versatilidad en el diseño y poca especialización funcional, lo que habría llevado a la permanencia de estos instrumentos en el sitio desde el Holoceno temprano, como así también a nivel regional en distintos sectores de la meseta central de Santa Cruz.

Keywords:

• End-scrapers
• Microwear analysis
• Hunter–gathers
• Southern Patagonia

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the neighbors and authorities of Pico Truncado and members of the research team who were part of the field crew. This work was possible thanks to CONICET postdoctoral scholarships, as well as UNLP 665 and PICT 0176 grants.

Notes on Contributors

Virginia Lynch has a PhD in Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata. Nowadays she is researching in CONICET and specializes in lithic technology and microwear analysis. She's also studying the cultural changes recorded through the lithic technology analysis at patagonic plateaus.

Laura Miotti has a PhD in Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata. She is a principal researcher in CONICET and specializes in hunter-gatherers and landscapes archaeology. Nowadays she is investigating the environmental and cultural changes in patagonic plateaus at high and middle latitudes.

Notes

¹Unifacial tool with marginal retouches on distal, proximal or both edges; with convex morphology (Shott 1995).

²Imposing a shape on certain raw material is a conscious work on which certain technical procedures are chosen. Those morpho-functional traits that enable more efficient mode action are prioritized over another (Aschero 1992).