Usos redundantes de Casa del Minero 1 (Santa Cruz, Argentina): fogones, restos líticos y estructuración interna del espacio

Abstract

En este trabajo evaluamos cómo los grupos humanos organizaron el espacio en el sitio Casa del Minero 1 (Meseta Central de Santa Cruz) durante la transición Pleistoceno/Holoceno. Para ello, analizamos la distribución de los artefactos líticos y de las estructuras de combustión registradas en la unidad 3 inferior del sitio. Examinamos esta distribución a la luz de los resultados del mismo análisis para la unidad 4 del sitio, los modelos de distribución artefactual y de poblamiento regional. Estos análisis nos permitieron inferir que los grupos utilizaron la cueva de manera redundante durante ocupaciones cortas y de baja intensidad. Las tareas de talla se habrían realizado cerca de los fogones. Para cada tipo de roca, el área de dispersión de los distintos pasos productivos suele ser coincidente, indicando que gran parte de la secuencia de manufactura de cada artefacto se realizó en un mismo lugar, desarrollando estrategias expeditivas que no involucraron tiempos diferidos de manufactura.

In this paper we seek to understand how human groups organized space in Casa del Minero 1 site (Central Plateau of Santa Cruz, Argentina) during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. In order to achieve this goal, we analyze the distribution of lithic artifacts and combustion structures within lower unit 3 of the site. We evaluate if there is a link between the location of knapping activities and the technological strategies implemented during tool production. We also investigate if hearths articulated the use of the internal space of the cave and thus affected the distribution of lithic remains. In order to discuss these issues we take into consideration the results of the same analysis in unit 4 of the site as well as models of artifact distribution and regional peopling. These analyses allowed us to infer that the groups used the cave in a redundant way, for short and low intensity occupations. Results indicate that the ignition and preparation of hearths did not involve much work. Their location and abundance show that they were not lit at the same time. The distribution of lithic remains is consistent with drop and toss zones. The majority of the knapping activities, especially in flint, were made near hearths. On the other hand, manufacture on chalcedony seems to have been performed away from the fire. For each raw material, different production stages are found in similar spots. This shows that a great part of the châine operatoire of each tool was performed at the same place, applying expedient strategies that did not involve differed manufacture times. Hence, expedient manufacture can also be analyzed through distributional approaches, as a complementary way to the study of reduction sequences. Finally, the patterns observed are analogous to those recorded for unit 4. This means that, during approximately 700 years, Casa del Minero 1 had two great occupational events. Both of them had the same functionality and shared a similar use of space.