High Altitude Archaeological Sites in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina.: Between Mountain Range Passes and Lithic Source Zones

The exploitation of lithic raw materials by past societies in Tierra del Fuego, in general, took place mainly in secondary sources of supply, represented by coastal pebbles that show good quality for carving, sensu Aragón and Franco (1997). During the exploration of hard rock outcrops in the Cordill...

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Autores principales: De Angelis, Hernan Horacio, Gonzalez Guillot, Mauricio, Zuck, Federico
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Centro de Estudios Históricos. UA CONICET 2023
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Acceso en línea:https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/comechingonia/article/view/38825
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Sumario:The exploitation of lithic raw materials by past societies in Tierra del Fuego, in general, took place mainly in secondary sources of supply, represented by coastal pebbles that show good quality for carving, sensu Aragón and Franco (1997). During the exploration of hard rock outcrops in the Cordillera sector, we have detected specific sectors with rocky outcrops of meta-riolites lacking foliation, with very good quality for cutting. The aim of this paper is to present evidence of temporary exploitation in three high altitude sites (above 600 m.a.s.l.). These sites are located in a glacial valley, and show evidence of primary provisioning that allows us to infer extractive activity for the supply and subsequent transfer of the material to other sites, thus constituting the first links in the operational chain. Access to and exploitation of these primary sources, given their high altitude location, must have been only seasonal, in summer-spring, when the absence of snow allowed access. The primary sources of supply in Tierra del Fuego may therefore not be as scarce as previously thought. We therefore believe that further studies and surveys are needed in order to broaden our knowledge of the modes of circulation and exploitation of lithic resources in this region.