Lithic Technological Analysis of a New Archaeological Site (Cueva Alí Mustafá, ∼12,000 cal yr BP) of the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition in Eastern Tandilia, Buenos Aires, Argentina

ABSTRACT

This paper presents and discusses the analysis of the lithic assemblage from a newly discovered archaeological site, Cueva Alí Mustafá, located in the eastern sector of the Tandilia Range (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Lithic artifacts associated with several hearths and scattered fragments of charcoal were dated in 10,450 ± 38 and 9032 ± 30 radiocarbon years ago, respectively. The site is interpreted as an ephemerally occupied camp in which lithic knapping activities were carried out, related to the late and final stages of stone-tool manufacture. The use of a wide variety of lithic raw materials from different sources was identified, most frequently two sedimentary varieties, one of which is a fine-grained rock whose source is more than 100 km from the archaeological site, and another, a medium-grained rock that is locally available. Other rocks were identified in lower frequencies, including, remarkably, the presence of silicified limestone which can be traced to more than 500 km away.

KEYWORDS:

• Lithic technology
• ephemeral occupation
• Pleistocene/Holocene transition
• Pampas region
• Argentina

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Dr Diana Mazzanti, Dr María Clara Álvarez, Lilian Bonnat, and Benjamin Wills for their meticulous reading of this manuscript and their suggestions. Also, thanks to Carlos Quintana, Juan Donadei Corada, Angel Bigarini, Jeremias Barroso, and Camila Petruzzi for their help during fieldwork. Also, the author thanks the three anonymous reviewers whose comments truly enriched this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Gustavo Federico Bonnat is postdoctoral fellow for the National Research Council Argentina (CONICET) and a professor of History at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMDP). Dr Bonnat obtained his PhD at the Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires in 2016. He excavated sites related to early hunter-gatherers in the Pampas region and specializes in lithic technology.

Additional information

Funding

These results were a part of my postdoctoral scholarship financed by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. In addition, the research was financed by the Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica, through PICT 2013 N°. 1979 and PICT 2017 N°. 1027, as well as the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata 15/F533 – HUM 73/15.