Replicating the Manufacturing Sequence of Ground Discoidal Biconvex Stones from Southeastern South America: Experimental Research

ABSTRACT

Ground discoidal lenticular stones are common archaeological finds in southeastern South America in the area of southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay. As part of an ongoing experimental program to explore and understand diverse aspects of lithic technologies from the Americas, this article reports a preliminary experiment dedicated to replicating this particular artifact. The research was performed to explore the techniques and stages of manufacture from obtaining the blank to the finished product. This article reports the experiment and proposes a four-stage model of a production sequence employing multiple techniques of lithic reduction (flaking, grinding, pecking, and polishing). The study takes into account the methods, implements, stages of manufacture, characteristics of raw materials, and other significant factors useful to discuss topics related to the traditional technological knowledge involved in the manufacturing process of these artifacts. In light of this investigation, the broader implications concerning the archaeological record are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Experimental archaeology
• lithic technology
• Holocene hunter-gatherers
• ground stone technology
• South America
• Uruguay
• Argentina
• Brazil

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank A. Toscano, former Director of the Museo Nacional de Antropología, for his constant support and help; A. Florines, for his constant support, help, and advice regarding different aspects of this research; A. Marques Garcia for his useful information; P. de la Peña for providing the rock samples from South Africa; R. Bianchi, S. Bálsamo, R. Cáceres, A. Castillo, and J. O. Pereira Amarillo for their kindness in allowing me to study their collections; and M. Cuadrado and L. A. Nami for their assistance during photographic documentation of this research. Particular thanks go to A. Castillo and R. Cáceres for their continuous sharing of information, kindness, and generosity during my stay in Tacuarembó city and to the editor, Brenda Bowser for her observations and impeccable work during English editing of this article, and finally to John C. Whittaker for his continuous support and suggestions in the final stage of polishing this paper. All figures are by the author unless otherwise stated.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

I am indebted to the University of Buenos Aires and CONICET for their continuous support and the Museo Nacional de Antropología de Uruguay for sponsoring my archaeological research in that country.

Notes on contributors

Hugo G. Nami

Dr. Hugo G. Nami is a former senior researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For many years, he was an associated researcher at the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He is a former research fellow of the Center for the Study of Early Man (University of Maine, Orono), National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution), Dumbarton Oaks, and other institutions. He has received grants from CONICET, Fulbright Commission, National Geographic Society, and Wenner Gren, among others. Research interests include hunter-gatherer archaeology, peopling of the New World, experimental archaeology, archaeological theory, epistemology, and paleomagnetism. On these subjects, he has published extensively in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.