Abstract
This paper seeks to characterize strategies of artifact manufacture and lithic raw material exploitation along San Matías Gulf coast, Argentina, using multifactorial and cluster analysis. Multifactorial analysis is a relatively new method that has yet to be used for archaeological analysis; it has the advantage that it allows us to describe data using different groups of qualitative or quantitative variables at the same time. Additionally, cluster analysis was conducted on multifactorial axis in a bid to identify grouping patterns. The results obtained from the combination of these two methods suggest that they may be useful in characterizing technological strategies in the study area. Furthermore, they may also be a powerful exploratory and characterization tool able to generate explanations at low spatial scales. The application of these methods on San Matías Gulf study case suggests that along the western and northern coasts of this Gulf the most important variables in determining differences in resource use were the fragmentation ratio and lithic raw materials used in artifact manufacture.
Highlights
The coast of Rıo Negro province, Argentina, runs for 380 km (Figure 1) with an archaeological record ranging from 6000 years 14C BP to the recent Late Holocene (450 years 14C BP) [1]
The power function relation amongst the mean and the variance implies that sets with a greater frequency will have a greater variance. This phenomenon generates distortions in the multivariate analysis, especially those based on Euclidian metrics, for instance, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), because the first axis tends towards the most abundant artifact classes, underestimating the value of rare or scarce tools
The analyses indicate that three types of loci could be differentiated after using the Multifactorial analysis (MFA) and the cluster analysis methods
Summary
The coast of Rıo Negro province, Argentina, runs for 380 km (Figure 1) with an archaeological record ranging from 6000 years 14C BP to the recent Late Holocene (450 years 14C BP) [1]. Focusing on different research avenues—artifactual, isotopic, archaeofaunistic, bioarchaeological—it has been possible to determine differences in the use of the coastal areas, as well as changes in subsistence strategies over time ([1,2,3,4,5,6], amongst others) In this regard, through the study of lithic assemblages from our study area, we have detected variations in the abundance of different stone tool types and debris discard rates. Through the study of lithic assemblages from our study area, we have detected variations in the abundance of different stone tool types and debris discard rates This could be the result of the microenvironmental diversity in the area, of dating issues, and/or due to changes in human diet [3, 7, 8]. The procurement of obsidian would have taken place as part of the regional circuits of mobility along the coastline, as well as through contact and exchange between the different human groups
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