Abstract

Obsidian has been widely used across time and space. In south-central Patagonia, its main source is Pampa del Asador, located in the central-west of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. This was the best raw material available on a regional scale for the Indigenous groups who inhabited the Paso Roballos area, in the Andean sector of Santa Cruz. We examine three nearby sites (5–10 km apart) equidistant from the source (80 km), two of which show persistent occupations spanning from 7400 to 300 cal. BP, while the third has only two occupations dated between 2300 and 1100 cal. BP. We compare obsidian selection and manufacture across these sites and identify both temporal and spatial variations. Temporally, obsidian was more frequently selected and more intensively used during the earliest occupations of the area. Contrary to expectations, sites varied greatly in the importance of this raw material and in the stages of the reduction sequence represented, even between chronologically overlapping occupations. Given that distance is a constant and access to this source does not appear to have been restricted over time, we argue that the observed variability was shaped by the activities performed at each location and the duration of occupations.

Continue reading - PDF

Supplementary Table