Tafonomía y materias primas líticas. Estudios en el golfo San Matías, Norpatagonia

Studies of lithic taphonomy emphasize the need to understand the history of artifacts from the time they were discarded up to their recovery by archaeologists. This allows us to understand the archaeological record and the factors involved in it. To achieve that, this paper studies the main agents and taphonomic processes acting on the lithic assemblages in the gulf coast of San Matías (Río Negro province, Argentina). We analyze their effects on the different types of rocks found in the area and evaluate the alterations detected in different sectors of the coast. The results indicate that both the raw materials under study and the geoform where the assemblages are located have conditioned the way that the taphonomic agents act on lithic materials and the effects which can be measured