Obsidianas en la payunia (Sur de Mendoza, Argentina): Patrones de distribución e implicancias en la ocupación regional

Abstract

This paper presents the results of technological analysis of obsidian artifacts from the Volcanic Field of La Payunia (south of Mendoza, Argentina). Previous studies in west central Argentina and central Chile discussed the role of obsidian sources in a regional large scale, interaction networks and human mobility in different scales. In La Payunia two obsidian sources have been identified and located in areas with different environmental characteristics and occupational history. Source El Peceño in the Nevado area and source Payún Matrú in El Payén area. We explore sourcing strategies and potential home-range in the south of Mendoza from middle and small spatial scales, and on the basis of technological studies of artifacts characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), in the second half of the Late Holocene. The results suggest marked differences in the use of obsidian sources, as well as the extent and directionality of the exploited areas.