MANAGEMENT OF LITHIC RAW MATERIAL SOURCES BY MOUND BUILDERS IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL: A CASE STUDY

This paper investigates the issue of lithic raw materials management by moundbuilders of Laguna dos Patos, southern Brazil, specifically by the inhabitants of the site "PT-02 - the Sotéia Cerrito", located in the Feitoria Island, the city of Pelotas, RS. This site was dated by radiocarbon method AMS-Standard between 1010 ± 40 BP and 990 ± 40 AP. There were analyzed the geological maps of the State of Rio Grande do Sul and the municipality of Pelotas as a complement of fieldwork in order to map potential areas where is the occurrence of raw materials. It was also used the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) as an auxiliary method in the identification of lithic raw materials