Loma de los Pedernales, a local raw material source in the North of Pampa Seca, Argentina

Abstract

This paper presents archaeological research carried out in the archaeological micro-region of Santa Paz. This is part of a wider area being researched by the authors that covers a vast area (25,700 km2) in southern Córdoba and San Luis provinces in Argentina and belongs to the geographical sub-region of Pampa Seca (North part). We also describe microscopic petrographic studies carried out to compare the stones used to manufacture a set of lithic tools with those rock clasts from a local source detected during the research. The results allow us to describe and compare the main petrographic characteristics of tools and clasts of raw material recovered during the survey. Its usage by local hunter gatherer groups suggests implications about raw material circulation and home ranges in the northern Pampa region during the Holocene. The distributions of water and high-quality stones for the manufacture of archaeological artifacts were critical factors that directly influenced hunter–gatherer groups mobility, settlements, and technological choices. Recent surveys, aimed to create a Regional Lithic Resources Base, in addition to the lithic material diversity, indicate that this area served as a border zone for the Pampean macro-region with Cuyo and Sierras Centrales (Córdoba and San Luis provinces).