Procurement and circulation of obsidian in the province of La Pampa: New data

Abstract

The aim of this presentation is to report the latest data regarding the procurement and circulation of obsidian in the province of La Pampa. In this sense, analyses of different samples from the Tapera Moreira, La Tigra and La Chola sites are presented. The results are consistent with the existing data for La Pampa and indicate that the obsidian recovered comes from sources located in the Chilean and pre-mountain ranges of the provinces of Neuquén and Mendoza. The new data broaden the spatial perspective of our interpretation to four micro-region research areas: Curacó, Serranías Pampeanas Meridionales, Valles Transversales and Bajos sin Salida. Studies of obsidian, together with pottery, malacology and bioanthropological studies, indicate the existence of extensive networks of social interaction in the province of La Pampa. They would have operated from at least the beginning of the late Holocene and allowed the circulation of ideas, people and objects from the mountain range to the Buenos Aires coast.