Research in the middle Negro River basin (Uruguay) and the paleoindian occupation of the Southern Cone

Abstract

Most scholars now believe that the Americas were peopled more than once and that these colonizing events produced a remarkable technological and adaptive diversity in South America during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The Southern Cone has played an important role in this history. The discovery in the 1930s of projectile points associated with the remains of Pleistocene fauna at Fell's and Pali Aike Caves has been followed by the discovery of similar Paleoindian artifacts in Ecuador, Argentina, and Uruguay. The Negro River basin in Uruguay has produced thousands of artifacts representing the earliest hunter-gatherer occupation. Recent investigations there have revealed strong morphological and technological similarities with other South American regions, among them similarities in blank selection, total or partial bifacial flaking in the early stages of manufacture, final shaping by short pressure retouches, carefully abraded stems, blade resharpening patterns, and variability. Although in its infancy, this research is beginning to integrate the Uruguayan record with broader archaeological processes in the region.