Pleistocene to Holocene Human Technology and Interaction in New World

**151**

**Chapter 8**

**Abstract**

cultural diversity

**1. Introduction**

The Technological Diversity

*João Carlos Moreno De Sousa*

of Lithic Industries in Eastern

South America during the Late

Pleistocene-Holocene Transition

Brazilian archaeological literature has insisted for decades upon associating hunter-gatherer sites dated to the Pleistocene–Holocene transition either to the Itaparica tradition, if located in central or northeastern Brazil, or to the Umbu tradition and Humaitá tradition, if located in southern Brazil, Uruguay, or any other adjacent part of Paraguay and Argentina. These associations have been based almost entirely on the presence or absence of *lesmas* and "projectile points," regardless of their morphological and technological features. In the Uruguayan archaeological literature, three other cultures are recognised: Fell industry, Catalanense industry, and Tigre tradition, all in the Uruguayan region. However, the last 10 years of systematic studies on the lithic assemblages from these sites have shown that Paleoindian societies from Eastern South America are more culturally diverse than expected and that previously defined archaeological cultures present several issues in their definition, suggesting that many of these "traditions" are not valid and should no longer be used. Instead, new lithic industries and archaeological cultures should be defined

only when cultural patterns are observable through systematic analyses.

**Keywords:** Paleoindian, hunter-gatherers, lithic technology, eastern South America,

When we think about the archaeology of the Pleistocene in the Americas, we can only point to a few sites that are not dated from the very end of that period. This is because the American continent only started to be densely occupied after 13,000 BP, when the Pleistocene was ending. In South America, there are only four places known to this day that present strong evidence that some people settled the continent before 13,000 BP: the Serra da Capivara region, in Northwestern Brazil, which has sites containing simple tools of quartzite pebbles made by direct percussion (choppers), the oldest one being Boqueirão da Pedra Furada, dating around 50,000 BP [1–11]; Monte Verde site, in central Chile, where choppers and flakes are presenting dates older than 33,000 BP [12]; Santa Elina site, in Midwestern Brazil, where retouched limestone flakes and polished pendants made of *Megatherium sp.* (giant sloth) osteoderms were found and dated to around 23,000 BP [13, 14]; and
