Tool production and indicators of polyvalent economies during the Upper Holocene in the Jericoacoara 1 archaeological site, Jericoacoara Coastal Plain, West Coast of the State of Ceará, Brazil

Abstract

Abstract The main goal of this study is to offer a preliminary characterization of the lithic industry of Jericoacoara 1, an Upper Holocene archaeological site located in the dune fields of the Jericoacoara National Park on the west coast of the state of Ceará. The present study analyzed 1,320 lithic artifacts collected in 2010 and 2017 after superficial surveys and three excavations conducted on two of the six areas of vestige dispersal composing the site. This industry’s investigation involved applying lithic technology principles, emphasizing the transformative unit tools. This approach made it possible to identify some variants of production by percussion and shaping, sometimes associated with the practice of retouching. The implementation of the transformative units of these tools indicates adaptations and recycling that could be related to specializations involving the activities of hunting, gathering, and fishing food resources in the coastal plain. This seems to be one of the characteristics of a polyvalent technological culture within an economic system.