Los Toldos
LocationSanta Cruz Province, Argentina
RegionPatagonia
Coordinates47°27′00″S 68°50′00″W / 47.45000°S 68.83333°W / -47.45000; -68.83333
History
PeriodsLate Glacial Interstadial and Holocene
CulturesToldense and Tehuelche

Los Toldos is an archaeological site in Santa Cruz, Argentina, which has evidenced human activity dating back almost 13,000 years ago. It is the namesake of the Toldense culture group.

Location

The site is located south of the Deseado River, in the Canadon de las Cuevas.[1]

Cave 3

Cave 3 of Los Toldos is located next to a ravine.[lower-alpha 1] Human settlement of the cave is dated around 12,000 years ago.[1] The entrance to the cave is approximately 12 meters wide.[2] Excavations carried out by archaeologist Augusto Cárdich and a team of specialists and students from the National University of La Plata (UNLP) have excavated twelve archaeological strata in the cave, with a total depth of two meters:[3]

StratigraphyDescription[3]
1Corresponds with Tehuelche occupation, although there are few artifacts in this layer.
2There are few artifacts in this layer.
3Numerous lithic artifacts have been uncovered at this layer of the site, indicating its extensive use. These include arrowheads/projectile points, scrapers, short scrapers and the bones of guanacos, deer, foxes, rodents and birds.
4–5These layers coincided with a volcanic eruption. A layer of ash exists in these levels, and there are no archaeological remains. This has led them to be called "sterile".
6–7These layers correspond with a culture known as the "Casa Pedra" or "Casapedrenca", characterized by a higher amount of lithic tools, probably meant for hunting guanacos. This culture flourished 7,500 years ago in Patagonia. Many large scrapers, scrapers, and knives were found during the excavations of these layers.
8This layer is poor in lithic artifacts, indicating that the cave was probably uninhabited during the time period associated with it.
9–10These layers provide important information on the Toldense material culture group. Two bifacial points, other triangular and thin spearheads, and a large number of large scrapers and scrapers were found. The artifacts have been radiocarbon dated to between 9,000 and 11,000 years ago. Bones of guanacos, rhea, and horses were identified and found in these layers as well.
11–12Contain numerous lithic artifacts, dating from 11,000 to 13,000 years ago. Among these are unifacial points, large shards of stone that were modified to varying degrees, some scrapers, and large scrapers. These artifacts indicate that the site was occupied by hunters adapted to the steppe of Patagonia. They hunted horses like Parahippus and camelids such as guanacos. This technological phase favored the later development of Toldense Culture.

See also

  • Cueva de las Manos — Nearby cave site with prehistoric paintings, also containing Toldense artifacts
  • Piedra Museo — Nearby archaeological site with Toldense artifacts

Notes

  1. ↑ The ravine has a height of 1.90 m, a depth of 22 m, a maximum width of 20 m, and a minimum width of 4 m.

References

  1. 1 2 Podestá, María Mercedes; Raffino, Rodolfo A.; Paunero, Rafael Sebastián; Rolandi, Diana S. (2005). El arte rupestre de Argentina indígena: Patagonia. Grupo Abierto Communicaciones. p. 11. ISBN 978-987-1121-16-8. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  2. ↑ Cárdich Augusto, Lucio Cárdich et Adam Hajduk, Secuencia arqueológica y cronología radiocarbónica de la Cueva 3 de Los Toldos (Santa Cruz, Argentina), Relaciones de Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, volume VII, pp. 87–122, 1973.
  3. 1 2 Cardich, Augusto (1987). Núñez, L.; Meggers, B. (eds.). "Arqueología de Los Toldos y El Ceibo (Provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina)". Estudios Atacameños (in Spanish). Santiago (8): 98–117. ISSN 0716-0925. JSTOR 25674592.

Further reading

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