Abstract

Geoarchaeological and taphonomic study of palimpsests in the dunes of Sayape locality (San Luis, Argentina). Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2018, vol.11, n.2, pp.73-84. ISSN 1852-060X.

The archaeological record of the south central San Luis province usually appears on the surface of deflation hollows forming palimpsests in a landscape of dunes. In order to obtain more information about these assemblages an integral research was conducted from geoarchaeological and taphonomic perspectives in Sayape locality, located 24 km SSW from Villa Mercedes city (San Luis). This study sought to understand the depositional contexts, changes in the landscape, the taphonomic history of the remains, the agents responsible for their occurrence and provides data on the chronologies of these palimpsests. Thus it was possible to establish that: 1) a large proportion of remains were buried under one or more soils and had contact with groundwater before their exposure; 2) the local environmental conditions were stable during certain periods of the Holocene, with scarce to absent erosion and aggradation, and variations in water availability over time; 3) most lithic materials and pottery show light abrasion; 5) all lithic materials are of anthropic origin and the smallest artifacts represent an unintentional microscale lithification of the landscape; 6) OSL dates indicate that the studied archaeological assemblages are lying on a late Pleistocene surface which may correspond to any moment of the current interglacial. The integration of geoarchaeological and taphonomic perspectives provided new information on the palimpsests, traditionally considered a very limited record in its informative potential about the past.

Keywords : Palimpsests; Eolian sandy environment; Geoarchaeology; Taphonomy; San Luis.

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