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Central Andean Lithic Techno-Typology at the Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene Transition

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Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions

Abstract

This paper explores the Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene transition in the Central Andes as reflected by the stone tool assemblages. Results indicate the isolation of two assemblages each one characterized by particular technological traits. The first one, a Terminal-Pleistocene assemblage composed by non-complex-artifacts, and a second one marked by the occurrence of the well-known leaf-shaped bifacial points on the high Andes, and the stemmed Paijan points on the Coast. Further possible economic implications of this isolation are also made in order to contextualize the lithic production in the Central Andes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Except for these two uses of the acronym “kyr,” we will use cal BC (calibrated years before Christ) because the Andean chronology is based in BC, not BP or kyr. All radiocarbon dates are presented rounded, yet calibrated after OxCal 3.10.

  2. 2.

    Curator of Lithics. Museo de Arqueología y Antropología de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Institute for Ancient America and Ethnology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Elmo Leon Canales

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  1. Elmo Leon Canales
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Anthropology, George Washington University, G Street NW., 2110, Washington, 20052, U.S.A.

    Marta Camps

  2. CRAFT Stone Age Institute, Indiana University, W. Dittemore Road 1392, Gosport, 47433-9531, U.S.A.

    Parth Chauhan

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Canales, E.L. (2009). Central Andean Lithic Techno-Typology at the Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene Transition. In: Camps, M., Chauhan, P. (eds) Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76487-0_34

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