Technological Organization in Hunting/Scavenging and Butchering Sites of Megamammals in the Pampa Grasslands (Argentina)

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to evaluate different modes of lithic acquisition, use, and disposal at three single-component open-air sites associated with the hunting/scavenging and butchering of megamammal species, and to discuss strategies applied in human mobility in the Pampa grasslands of Argentina during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. In the Paso Otero 5 and Campo Laborde assemblages, the last stages of the lithic-reduction sequence were associated with the context of tool use in a curated technological strategy. In La Moderna, the high frequency of quartz debitage, presence of expedient tools manufactured on-site, and close proximity to quartz outcrops are interpreted to represent a situational behavior produced in response to immediate and unanticipated conditions. During the late Pleistocene, at Paso Otero 5 humans exploited rocks from diverse regions, whereas at Campo Laborde and La Moderna hunter-gatherers displayed lower mobility during the early Holocene.

Keywords:

• lithic technology
• megamammal butchering site
• stone acquisition and mobility
• Pampa grasslands
• late Pleistocene–early Holocene

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pablo Gerónimo Messineo

Pablo Gerónimo Messineo (PhD 2008, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, UNLP) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Social Sciences, UNICEN, and Assistant Researcher for the National Council of Scientific and Technological Investigations (CONICET), Argentina. His research interests focus on the study of lithic technology and subsistence in hunter-gatherer societies that occupied the Pampas grasslands of Argentina from the initial peopling of the region until moments before conquest.