The early peopling and use of space during the colonization of Southeast of South America

Summary

Research on the early occupation in the Southern Cone has turned its attention to a particular type of diagnostic artifact: the Fishtail points. Archaeological excavations conducted in Uruguay over the last 15 years have allowed indicating the presence of a cultural tradition of bifacial stemmed points, represented by at least three distinct cultural groups defined on the basis of different projectile points types: Fishtail (12,800- 12,200 calibrated yr BP), Tigre (12,000-11,200 calibrated yr BP) and Pay Paso (11,080 to 10,200 calibrated yr BP). Recent data indicate that the Uruguay plains were occupied for at least 1000 years before the emergence of Fishtail groups. The new chronological evidence indicates human presence in the north and south of Uruguay between 14,000 to 13,300 calibrated yr BP. This presentation discusses the early projectile point distribution, the use of space and specific locale occupational redundancy by early groups during the colonization of Southeastern South America.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Mobility and Use of Space in Late Pleistocene South America: Is it Possible to Discuss Early Human Regional Ranking?

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Spatial Coverage