Expedient Lithic Procurement at the Katterfeld Quarry-Workshop of Central-West Patagonia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The study of toolstone procurement in Patagonia is biased in favor of high-quality exotic materials—chiefly obsidian—often transported over large distances as heavily curated artifacts. Lesser-quality sources however may be important in the technological behavior at smaller scales (e.g., basin, subregion). The Katterfeld site is a ca. 73,000 m2 siliceous shale quarry workshop located in the headwaters of the Ñirehuao River in central-west Patagonia. Its location above the tree line imposes seasonal access restriction. However, it stands as the largest and most intensely utilized site of this kind in the region. Our ongoing research includes the study of the geology of the area, understanding formation processes at a site level (mainly for addressing chronology), and the study of technology and taphonomy of the assemblage. Piece plotting over a 10,000 m2 surface has revealed a total of 2,046 lithic artifacts showing the initial stages of lithic procurement, which occurred alongside other activities with short-lived tools. This paper discusses the Katterfeld workshop’s record in terms of the expedient behavior represented at the site and how it is different to other lithic assemblages in the basin/region, thereby highlighting the complementary nature of assemblages in central-west Patagonia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38287.0