Abstract

CASSIODORO, GISELA. ARTEFACTUAL COMPOSITION OF SURFACE ASSEMBLAGES IN THE SALITROSO LAKE BASIN (SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA). Magallania [online]. 2010, vol.38, n.1, pp. 215-236. ISSN 0718-2244.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-22442010000100013.

The Salitroso lake basin (Santa Cruz) is characterized by the existence of a great number of open air sites, both funerary structures and surface concentrations of archaeological materials. In this opportunity the information regarding the artefactual composition of these concentrations and the spaces between them is presented. The assemblages are located in dunes and the available chronologies date them after 1.600 years BP. The characteristics of artefactual diversity, types and raw materials are presented. Technological variability is discussed by means of a techno-morphological and quantitative analysis. This variability is explained within the framework of the late Holocene regional humidity drop. It is proposed that during this process the lake basin under study would have been used permanently and semi-permanently in a residential manner by hunter-gatherer groups (Goñi 2000).

Keywords : hunter- gatherers; lake basin; technology; mobility; late Holocene.