Under the supervision of Principal Investigator Dr. Michael Jochim and Project Director Jose Luis Lanata, co-Principal Investigator Arleen Garcia-Herbst will collect and analyze data gathered during archaeological survey and excavations at 17 prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites. These sites are located in coastal Southern Argentina and range in age from the Mid to Late Holocene (BC 3124 to AD 1474). They are notable for demonstrating that coastal hunter-gatherers relied primarily on marine fauna for their subsistence (such as Pinnipeds, Cormorants, Penguins, Mollusks and Fish), counter to previous research that assumed that all hunter-gatherers in southern Argentina relied primarily on terrestrial fauna (such as Guanaco and Ostrich). The 12 Late-Holocene sites consist of a grouping of dark green, tall shrub vegetation patches covering the extent of the shell bearing deposits containing stratified layers of stone tools, mollusk shells, bone fragments and charcoal. The 5 Mid-Holocene sites consist of a series of eroding dunes containing stratified layers of stone tools, mollusk shells, bone fragments and charcoal. Garcia-Herbst's excavations focus on the recovery of data that will help determine if, during times of hardship, hunter-gatherers overcome a degree of risk and uncertainty that is generated through technological innovation.
Research focusing on technological innovation is important because few studies deal with the specifics of why humans adopt new technology, and at present, no archaeological study investigates prehistoric stone tool technological innovation in South America. Generalized anthropological processes, such as the colonization of a new area; being enclosed by either environmental boundaries, such as mountains, oceans, and rivers, or social boundaries, such as neighboring groups of people (circumscription); production of more subsistence goods with the same amount of resources (subsistence intensification); and the emergence of social inequality, cannot be understood without documenting how technological decisions are affected by such processes. This project examines the flaked stone tool assemblages from 17 archaeological sites using a series of analytical methods to monitor technological innovation. Using multiple lines of evidence, this project has identified these times of hardship in the archaeological record and it will determine if these cause instances of flaked stone technological innovation. This project will help anthropologists to better understand the role of prehistoric social processes in technological innovations.
Beyond research questions of interest to social scientists, this project will have a broader impact because of the project's international scope involving collaboration between Argentine scholars and students and the co-Principal Investigator. The co-PI will also engage in significant public outreach activities and education, such as presenting her research results at regional and national level anthropological conferences in Argentina and Chile, during and after the time she conducts her research and analyses in Argentina. Moreover, she will disseminate her results by giving national level conference presentations in the United States. The preparation of a project website will enhance public visibility of the project, while publication in both refereed journals and professional newsletters will communicate the results to the scientific community.
