Estudios funcionales de artefactos líticos de Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Abstract

We present the results of microwear studies of a sample of scrapers, from the excavations at the site Cueva de lasManos -layers 4c, 5 and 6-, dated between 1610 bp to 9300 years bp. We are interested in defi ning on what typeof raw material these scrapers worked, since this subject wasn’t previously analyzed. On the other hand we areinterested in extending the study of the morphologic variability of scrapers, in relation to their functional variability.Especially considering that this site presents a remarkable number of instruments classifi ed as scrapers and rabots.These new results will allow going deeper in the discussion started by Cattaneo in previous works. A differentiationwas established in them between certain subgroups of scrapers working only on one type of material and othergroups which combined several types- at least two of them. Also, we reintroduce the observations made with theLaser Confocal Scanning Microscope BioRad MRC600, that were also analyzed with the “PHILOS” software for imagerecognition.

Keywords

• Cueva de las Manos
• scrapers
• functional analysis
• design