Late Holocene raw material procurement and mobility patterns in northeast Uruguay (Pago Lindo site, Tacuarembó)

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an analysis on lithic procurement and land use strategies corresponding to Late Holocene occupations in northeast Uruguay. Excavations carried out at mound PU061110Q23/Q25, located at the archaeological site of Pago Lindo (Caraguatá, department of Tacuarembó), reveal a predominance of siliceous raw materials mostly procured from secondary sources. In view of this, an extensive surveying strategy was designed to locate the sources of these siliceous materials. The survey focused on a 10-kilometer radius from the archaeological site. This method allowed us to locate and characterize potential sources of lithic raw materials. All the resulting data have been processed and analyzed using GIS tools for the landscape. Such analyses were oriented towards mobility and land-use patterns. Also, a petrographic characterization of the sources was carried out through macroscopic and microscopic analyses, and compared with archaeological materials. The data obtained are consistent with the lithic technological analysis of the archaeological sample, which shows coherent patterns associated with immediate and local procurement strategies.