scholarly journals Black obsidian procurement strategies and circulation along the northern coast of the Santa Cruz Province (Argentine Patagonia): human mobility and interaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Ambrústolo

In this article, we examine the strategies behind the acquisition and reduction of black obsidian found in rock shelters and shell middens from the north coast of the Santa Cruz Province, in Argentine Patagonia. Geochemical analyses performed on black obsidian artifacts from this area posit the long-distance circulation of this raw material given its source at Pampa del Asador, located approximately 400 km to the west. In a previous article, we suggested that evidence for the initial knapping of obsidian pebbles, added to the identification of artifacts with high cortex percentage, implied that obtaining pieces of said raw material would have been based on pebble morphologies. Here we expand on this proposal, contending that this was the case at least for Late Holocene occupational contexts. During the Middle Holocene an exceptionally low representation of very small-sized debris without cortical reserve was observed; cores and tools were not registered. Knapping activities related to intermediate technical steps in the framework of core reduction and blank production were evidenced, including small and very small flakes as well as bifacial preforms. We inferred that obsidian pieces probably entered into these Middle Holocene sites as part of personal toolkits, cores and bifacial artifacts without cortex, within the framework of exploratory incursions into the area. For the Late Holocene occupations, taking into consideration the presence of obsidian pebbles, of similar dimensions to those registered at the source itself, we suggest that their procurement would have occurred through various mechanisms, such as the establishment and strengthening of social relations within the context of mobility circuits that would have linked the coast to the interior, among other factors.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Enrique Cueto ◽  
Ariel David Frank ◽  
Fabiana Skarbun

La María and Cerro Tres Tetas archaeological localities are located in the Central Plateau, in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentine Patagonia. This area presents abundant lithic raw materials of very good quality for knapping including flint, chalcedony and silicified wood. These raw materials were used by the inhabitants of the region since the end of the Pleistocene until recent historical times. Besides, we have recorded the exploitation of exotic stones in low proportions at the archaeological sites. Among these, the most abundant is obsidian which probably comes from sources located more than125 kmaway. In this context, the use of this type of raw material should be evaluated in terms of social and symbolic issues.In this paper, we examine the strategies of acquisition and reduction of the obsidian found at the archaeological sites Cerro Tres Tetas 1, Casa del Minero 1, Cueva de La Ventana, La Mesada and Cueva Túnel. We carry out a technomorphological analysis of the obsidian remains from these sites.Results from this work strengthen the idea that the groups which lived in the Central Plateau knew about and exploited an obsidian source known as Pampa del Asador. A raise in the use of this raw material throughout time is recorded, reaching its peak in the late Holocene. We identified two different moments in the exploitation of obsidian at the regional level. During the final Pleistocene and early Holocene, obsidian would not have played a relevant role in the organization of technology. Production sequences indicate that tools probably were entered to the sites already manufactured. During the middle and late Holocene nodules and cores could have been brought into the sites. The strategies involved in their reduction are in broad terms similar to those implemented with local raw materials; there is no evidence that obsidian had more value in any way. On the other hand, it is also not possible to state that there was just an eventual exploitation of this raw material. We believe that obsidian was acquired during mobility circuits which enabled the contact between different groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Prieto ◽  
Alvaro Arrizabalaga ◽  
Iñaki Yusta

The increase, in quantitative and qualitative terms, of research attending to the geological nature of rocks found in archaeological contexts is changing our perspectives about social and economic territories articulated by Palaeolithic societies in the Cantabrian Region. Practically the only raw material researched in a solid geoarchaeological approach in this area is flint. This paper addresses how the near absence of in-depth geoarchaeological research into raw materials other than flint is modifying our perception of the procurement and management mechanism of raw material in the Cantabrian Region during the Palaeolithic. To consider this matter in depth, we present the bibliographic and quantitative analysis of 30 representative archaeological sites from the Cantabrian Region whose assemblages were described lithologically using basic and primary categories. The state of play depicts a geographic distribution of raw material in the Cantabrian Region where quartzite is associated with the western sector and flint with the east. Interconnected with this axis, there is a chronological tendency that promotes standardisation in the use of flint by Palaeolithic societies following a chronological order, from the older to the more recent periods. This information, and its contextualisation with the new perspectives resulting from the application of the geoarchaeological proposal used to understand flint procurement, allows us to understand the general tendencies of raw material distribution of the region. Especially, we can detect how the absence of geoarchaeological methodologies of other raw materials than flint has modified the perception of the economic and social dynamics articulated around raw material by Palaeolithic people. This bias does not only affect the geographical and chronological axes, emphasising information from the regions and periods where flint is represented, but also promotes the over-interpretation of long-distance procurement, therefore, building up narratives exclusively based on human mobility. This situation has generated an incomplete and unbalanced picture of the procurement and management strategies followed by Palaeolithic societies because quartzite, the second most-often used lithic raw material, and other raw materials have only been studied using geoarchaeological methods within the last few years. This research finally points to the continuation of in-depth research of quartzite and other raw materials as the next steps to re-interpret the current paradigms about procurement and management of raw material by Palaeolithic societies, and, therefore, modify our perspectives of social and economic territories. The research presented here addresses this situation and proposes the in-depth research of quartzite as the next step to re-interpret the current paradigms about procurement and management of raw material by Palaeolithic societies, and, therefore, modify our perspectives of social and economic territories. To do so, we have proposed a general raw material framework in the Cantabrian Region based on the 30 most representative sites whose assemblages were described lithologically using basic and primary categories. The state of the art depicted a geographic distribution of raw material in the Cantabrian Region where quartzite is associated with the western sector and flint with the east. Interconnected with this axis, there is a chronological tendency that promotes standardisation in the use of flint by Palaeolithic societies following a chronological order, from the older to the more recent periods. This information, and its contextualisation with the new perspectives resulting from the application of the geoarchaeological proposal used to understand flint procurement, allows us to understand the bias derived by the absence of geoarchaeological methodologies of other raw materials than flint. These biases are not only related with the geographical and chronological axes, emphasising information from the regions and periods where flint is represented, but also with the overinterpretation of long-distance procurement, therefore, promoting narratives exclusively based on human mobility.


FLORESTA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Leonardo Alves White ◽  
Genésio Tâmara Ribeiro ◽  
Rosemeri Melo e Souza

Eucalyptus é o gênero florestal plantado em maior quantidade no Brasil, sendo sua madeira utilizada, principalmente, para a produção de celulose. Incêndios florestais dentro de plantações dessas espécies acabam por danificar ou consumir a matéria-prima, gerando prejuízos de ordem econômica. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar o material combustível superficial nos povoamentos de eucalipto pertencentes à empresa Copener Florestal Ltda., localizados no litoral norte da Bahia, e, por conseguinte, determinar o comportamento do fogo em diferentes cenários com base em simulações computacionais utilizando o BehavePlus Fire Modeling System. Para tal, foram realizadas 40 amostragens destrutivas de coleta de material combustível em 5 distintos povoamentos de 6 anos. A espessura do leito foi definida por meio de transectos linha, e a velocidade do vento, com base em dados da estação meteorológica Salgado. Demais dados foram obtidos através de consulta à literatura. Os povoamentos de eucalipto apresentaram em média 11,31 t/ha de material combustível, espessura do leito média de5,94 cm e velocidade do vento média de4,45 km/h. Com base nas simulações, foi definido que apenas no cenário de alto perigo é essencial a utilização de equipamentos de grande porte para combate ao fogo.Palavras-chave: Incêndios florestais; proteção florestal; silvicultura. AbstractCharacterization of the understory fuel load and fire behavior simulation in eucalyptus plantations in north coast of Bahia, Brazil. Currently, eucalyptus is the most planted forest genus in Brazil, being its wood used mainly for the production of cellulose. Forest fires in plantations of these species eventually damage or consume the raw material, generating economic losses. This work aims to characterize the surface fuel load in eucalypt plantation of the Copener Florestal Ltda. company, located on the northern coast of Bahia, and, therefore, determine the fire behavior in different scenarios based on computer simulations using the BehavePlus Fire Modeling System. In order to that, we conducted 40 destructive sampling in 05 different 06 years old stands. The fuel bed depth was determined through transect line methodology, and the wind speed was based on data from the Salgado weather station. Other data were obtained from the literature. The eucalyptus plantations had on average 11.31 t/ha fuel load,5.94 cm of fuel bed depth average, and average wind speed of4.45 km/h. Based on the simulations it was defined that only in the scenario of high risk it is essential to use large equipment for firefighting. In low and medium hazard scenarios fire can be extinguished by people using hand equipments.Keywords: Forest fire; forest protection; silviculture.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Christina Torres-Rouff ◽  
Gonzalo Pimentel ◽  
William J. Pestle ◽  
Mariana Ugarte ◽  
Kelly J. Knudson

Camelid pastoralism, agriculture, sedentism, surplus production, increasing cultural complexity, and interregional interaction during northern Chile's Late Formative period (AD 100–400) are seen in the flow of goods and people over expanses of desert. Consolidating evidence of material culture from these interactions with a bioarchaeological dimension allows us to provide details about individual lives and patterns in the Late Formative more generally. Here, we integrate a variety of skeletal, chemical, and archaeological data to explore the life and death of a small child (Calate-3N.7). By taking a multiscalar approach, we present a narrative that considers not only the varied materiality that accompanies this child but also what the child's life experience was and how this reflects and shapes our understanding of the Late Formative period in northern Chile. This evidence hints at the profound mobility of their youth. The complex mortuary context reflects numerous interactions and long-distance relationships. Ultimately, the evidence speaks to deep social relations between two coastal groups, the Atacameños and Tarapaqueños. Considering this suite of data, we can see a child whose life was spent moving through desert routes and perhaps also glimpse the construction of intercultural identity in the Formative period.


1971 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-556
Author(s):  
D. J. Lindsay

By the North European Trade Axis is meant the trade route from Ushant and Land's End, up the English Channel, through the Dover Strait fanning out to serve eastern England, the north coast of continental Europe and leading to the Baltic Basin. Recent events in this area have left a feeling that some form of tightening of control is not only desirable, but is rapidly becoming imperative. There is a basic conflict between the two forms of shipping using the area: the local users who use the area more or less constantly, and the long-distance traders, usually much larger, which arrive in the area for a brief stay after a prolonged period at sea, which has usually been in good weather conditions. Frequently these latter ships have a very poor notion of the hornet's nest into which they are steaming when they arrive. The net result is all too often the same: the local users, with familiarity breeding contempt, wander about as they see fit, with scant regard for routing or the regulations; all too often the big ships arrive from sea with navigating staffs who are too confused, sometimes too ignorant—and sometimes too terrified—to do much more than blunder forward in a straight line hoping for the best. Quite obviously this is not a total picture, and there are large numbers of ships which navigate perfectly competently, but the minority of those which do not seem to be rising rapidly, and show every sign of continuing to increase.


The Holocene ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wilson ◽  
John McGourty ◽  
Mark D. Bateman

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1771-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ny Riavo Gilbertinie Voarintsoa ◽  
Loren Bruce Railsback ◽  
George Albert Brook ◽  
Lixin Wang ◽  
Gayatri Kathayat ◽  
...  

Abstract. Petrographic features, mineralogy, and stable isotopes from two stalagmites, ANJB-2 and MAJ-5, respectively from Anjohibe and Anjokipoty caves, allow distinction of three intervals of the Holocene in NW Madagascar. The Malagasy early Holocene (between ca. 9.8 and 7.8 ka) and late Holocene (after ca. 1.6 ka) intervals (MEHI and MLHI, respectively) record evidence of stalagmite deposition. The Malagasy middle Holocene interval (MMHI, between ca. 7.8 and 1.6 ka) is marked by a depositional hiatus of ca. 6500 years. Deposition of these stalagmites indicates that the two caves were sufficiently supplied with water to allow stalagmite formation. This suggests that the MEHI and MLHI intervals may have been comparatively wet in NW Madagascar. In contrast, the long-term depositional hiatus during the MMHI implies it was relatively drier than the MEHI and the MLHI. The alternating wet–dry–wet conditions during the Holocene may have been linked to the long-term migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). When the ITCZ's mean position is farther south, NW Madagascar experiences wetter conditions, such as during the MEHI and MLHI, and when it moves north, NW Madagascar climate becomes drier, such as during the MMHI. A similar wet–dry–wet succession during the Holocene has been reported in neighboring locations, such as southeastern Africa. Beyond these three subdivisions, the records also suggest wet conditions around the cold 8.2 ka event, suggesting a causal relationship. However, additional Southern Hemisphere high-resolution data will be needed to confirm this.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sovian Aritonang ◽  
Jupriyanto Jupriyanto ◽  
Riyadi Juhana

<p>The number of iron sand reserves is mostly spread in the coastal waters of Indonesia, from the coast of Sumatra, the southern of Java to Bali, the beaches of Sulawesi, beaches in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and the northern coast of Papua. Total reserves for ore are 173,810,612 tons and metal as much as 25,412,652.62 tons. But its utilization was not optimal because PT. Krakatau Steel, and PT. Krakatau Posco has produced steel plates only 24,000 to 36,000 tons per year. While the need for steel plates for the shipping industry each year requires 900,000 tons per year. With the need for raw material for steel plates in the form of iron sponges with Fe ≥ 60%, PT. Krakatau Steel is still imported from abroad. The proof is PT. Krakatau Steel before and during the year 2000 still imported Iron Ore Pellets from the countries of Sweden, Chille and Brazil for 3,500,000 tons per year. This condition is the cause of the national steel industry unable to compete with the foreign steel industry because imported raw materials are subject to import duties. This is an opportunity to build a steel raw material company because all this time the steel raw material industry in Indonesia has only two companies. This condition encourages the manufacture of iron sponges, with the process of making iron sponges with technology adapted to installed production capacity. This study analysed the manufacture of iron sponges using Cipatujah iron sand, as raw material for the manufacture of iron sponges, with the results obtained in the form of iron sponges with the highest levels of Fe ≥60.44%. This can be used for the purposes of raw materials for steel making PT. Krakatau Steel (PT. KS), because so far PT. KS claims that Fe &lt;60% local sponge iron products. This can encourage the independence of steel raw materials, which impacts on the independence of the defence industry. But the government must also protect and prioritize steel raw materials for national production for national steel production. With the national government steel industry, the consortium of vendors supplying raw material (iron sponge) to maintain the quality and supply of continuous sponge iron.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: iron sand, iron pellet, iron sponge</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document