First Assessment of a Pebble Tool Industry in the Pesqueiro River Valley, Upper Uruguay River Basin, Southern Brazil

Abstract

This article presents the first findings of a topographic survey plotting the location of archaeological material and of a technological study of the lithic industry at the SC-CHA-030 open-air archaeological site along the Pesqueiro riverbank, located in the upper course of the Uruguay River Basin in southwestern Brazil. We analyzed raw material selection and the production of shaped/façonnage tools (unifacial, bifacial, and trihedral) associated with the production (debitage) of cortical and semi-cortical flakes that were then transformed into tools by simple retouch. From the geoarchaeological point of view, the spatial distribution pattern of the material is meaningful in the context of the geomorphic transition between foothills and alluvial plain. Our study of technological behavior and the formation of archaeological sites finds that raw material and shaped pebble tools are a crucial aspect of the industries on the Paraná Basaltic Plateau of southern Brazil.