Archaeology of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in Uruguay: an overview

Abstract

In Uruguay, evidence of early human occupation comes from different archaeological regions, including the Basin of Uruguay and Cuareim Rivers, Basin of Negro mid River, and the Atlantic littoral. This paper presents a synthesis and overview of the poorly known archaeology of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition of Uruguay, including archaeological, sedimentological and palaeontological information related to the early human occupation. In this region, the ancient human settlements occurred in various environmental settings including riverbanks, hilltops, and maritime landscapes. New Fell type or “ fishtail” projectile points and preliminary results of the current research in Pay Paso locality are presented. Evidence from Pay Paso site 1 indicates that during Early Holocene, the shore of the Cuareim River was a paleosurface that was occupied by early human groups. A new and previously unpublished type of projectile point from early hunter-gatherers (ca. 9300–9100 yr BP) was recovered from excavation of Pay Paso site 1. Finally, some comments and observations about culture material and lithic technology for early people of Uruguay are explored.