Examining the bone tool collection of L. M. Torres (D25 Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to broaden and study in depth the known information about the Low Paraná wetland bone technology of Late Holocene archaeological sites. For this purpose, to samples analyzed from two sectors of the area (the southern riverine lowlands and the alluvial plains of Entre Ríos), we add the artifactual assemblage recovered by L.M. Torres in the beginning of XX century and located in Depósito 25 from Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata. This collection came from hunter-gatherer sites located in the Paraná delta and alluvial plains of Entre Ríos. Museum collections are analyzed following methodological venues used to study of bone technology in previous works of the area. We consider the morphological, metrical and physical structure of bone tools assemblage. As result of this work we obtained a picture that, for the first time, include three different sectors of the Low Paraná wetland. We note that, despite broadening the spatial scale, a same trend remains constant showing a complex technological system. Different morpho-functional groups share morphological, physical, metrical structures that suggest an efficient handling of bone raw material.