Quishqui Punku (PAn 3-170), Early Use of High Altitude Sites in the Callejon de Huaylas (Ancash), Peru

Summary

In 1964 excavations at Quishqui Punku, Lynch described a diverse lithic industry, including small blades and elongated flakes, which I re-analyzed in 2014-15. Lynch did not take samples for radiocarbon dating because of severe mixing and contamination by later agriculturalists. Nevertheless, in this study of the blades and debitage, I recognized two fragments of Fishtail points. Typological considerations suggest occupation from the Terminal Pleistocene through the Early and Middle Holocene (Younger Dryas). Fishtail points on flakes and microblades span a broad time spectrum in South America: Fishtail points occur in Fell's Cave, El Inga, and Río Negro, while microblade technology was found at Cueva de los Toldos, El Inga and Manachaqui. Lynch identified 94,660 pieces of worked stone, including 1782 artifacts in 66 types. He found these and additional types at 31 other sites in the Callejon, such as Guitarrero Cave and Pan12-58 near the headwaters of the Santa River. Lynch based his typology largely on shapes and dimensions, paying little attention to technological factors. My methodology stressed technology and seeked to reconstruct the processes of production of artifacts through an analysis of human intention, techno-typological determination, and the “operational chain.”

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Role of High Altitude Landscapes in the Peopling of the New World

Keywords

Spatial Coverage