Luminescence Dating of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Sediments in Uruguay

Abstract

The archaeological record in the Negro River in central Uruguay Republic is remarkable for its richness, including the presence of a significant number of Paleoindian fishtail points. As part of ongoing research on the earliest human occupations in this region, luminescence dating is applied to develop a terminal Pleistocene-Holocene regional chronology. Eight ages were derived from six samples taken from sedimentary fluvial deposits from two sites near the city of Paso de los Toros. The resulting dates span 11.8 and 1.04 ka corresponding to the Late Pleistocene and the whole Holocene. Because the chronology of the sedimentary sequences spanning these ages is poorly known, the presented results become a significant contribution to the construction of a chronostratigraphy sequence in the area. The results also show how single-grain dating can distinguish different components of mixed assemblages.

New Paleoindian Finds, Further Fell Points Data, and Technological Observations from Uruguay: Implications for the Human Peopling in Southeastern South America

“…They 1 Other Holocene Umbú like projectile points (Dias Schmidt, 2007, Bueno et al, 2013 with similar dates to FPs were found in sites along the coast of the Uruguay river in southern Brazil and NW Uruguay (Miller, 1987;Hilbert, 1985;Suárez, 2015;Moreno de Souza, 2017). However, this data must be taken with caution in light of alluvial geo-archaeology and site formation process (Nami, 2013, Feathers & Nami, 2017 were documented in Rocha to the east; in Canelones and Maldonado to the south, and in Florida to the west (Figueira, 1892, López-Mazz, 2013Nami, 2015Nami, , 2016a. 38 km south of CA, Urupez II yielded FPs in the stratigraphy whose dates were consistent with other sites from the southern cone in particular, and South America in general.…”

Paleoamerican Occupation, Stone Tools from the Cueva del Medio, and Considerations for the Late Pleistocene Archaeology in Southern South America

“…Originating in this way, there is a mix of diverse kinds of archaeological and paleontological materials in some sectors e.g. [14,42].…”

“…Originating in this way, there is a mix of diverse kinds of archaeological and paleontological materials in some sectors [e.g. 14,42]. The excavations allowed the discovery of a remarkable archaeological level restricted to the excavated area and performed at the front near the entrance, but mainly in the interior in the central section.…”

“…As can be seen in both depictions, except for the two younger dates of~9.5 and 9.7 kya, the assays related to the PA occupations belong to the last millennium of the Pleistocene range between~10.3 and 11.0 kya, and the highest number of occurrences varies between~10.3 and 10.8 kya. The~9.5 and 9.7 kya dates from the FP level may be considered outsiders from the time span when the FP makers lived [42,53,[63][64][65][66][67]. As mentioned previously, despite the archaeological remains with triangular projectile points and their corresponding lithic assemblage being mostly present in layer three, there is a sector in the transition between layers three and four with a mix of triangular points and Pleistocene fauna (see Figure 14 in [8]).…”

Theoretical and Epistemological Thoughts on Archaeology and Experimental Lithic Technology

“…While lacking factual chronological data, but due to certain differences in general shape, it has been suggested that the so-called Yaguarí-Yaguanesa-Paso del Puerto-Zapucai points represented "temporal types" in the regional archaeological process in part of the Uruguay Republic (Iriarte & Femenías, 2000). Of course, any differences with regard to morpho-technological issues must be seriously addressed, but in this particular region it is crucial to search for stratigraphic sites with critical, objective, and unbiased studies on chronology and geoarchaeology, mostly of an alluvial nature (Nami, 2013;Feathers & Nami, 2018). However, a closer look at the regional projectile points from a technological viewpoint, allows the observation that many of these artifacts share several features, thus suggesting that they were made by people who shared similar technological knowledge.…”