Raw Material Sourcing of Two Terminal Pleistocene Sites in Southern Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

I present a raw materials analysis from two terminal Pleistocene-aged sites in southern Peru: Quebrada Jaguay 280 (QJ-280) and Cuncaicha. Each site’s debitage assemblage contains multiple lithic raw material types, including obsidian, chalcedony, petrified wood, jasper, and andesite. While the obsidian has been sourced to the highland Alca volcanic field, no formal provenance studies have been previously undertaken for the non-obsidian raw materials. Our team carried out field survey of the mid-altitude Pampas region between the coast and highlands, and discovered a vast lithic landscape with primary reduction and workshop sites. We identified and sampled over 20 different types of silica rocks naturally cropping out. I then classified the raw materials comprising both the QJ-280 and Cuncaicha debitage assemblages. When compared with geologic hand specimens from the Pampa outcrops, a majority of the identified raw materials appear at one or both sites indicating that both highland and coastal populations were utilizing the mid-altitude region for lithic procurement. This poster summarizes the non-obsidian raw materials at both sites and suggests their likely source locations. The combination of newly identified sites and raw material sources allows for improved regional path modeling and strengthens our understanding of the Terminal Pleistocene coastal-highland connection.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25690