The technology of the European Upper Palaeolithic yielded abundant evidence of the use of composite projectile heads, in the form of osseous points on the side of which one or several (micro)lithic elements are attached. Yet, little experimental work has been devoted to testing and assessing the parameters of use of this type of composite tips. In this paper we present a pilot experiment with replicas of Magdalenian composite spear tips, made of an antler point with one or two rows of flint backed bladelets. Two series of replicas were manufactured after the lithic and osseous record of, respectively, the Lower Magdalenian from southwest France (c. 20-18 Ky cal BP) and the Upper Magdalenian of Pincevent in the Paris Basin (c. 15-14 Ky cal BP). The 34 experimental composite heads were hafted to spears that were then shot with a spearthrower at the carcasses of two young deer. The results provide some insight into the performance characteristics of the osseous and lithic components, both in efficiency and durability. Finally, possible improvements of the experimental protocol are discussed, as well as the implications of our results for the understanding of projectile point variability in the Upper Palaeolithic

RESUMENEl presente estudio tecno-económico de los materiales líticos recuperados en el sitio Cerro Castillo 1, provincia de Última Esperanza -Chile, entrega nuevos antecedentes sobre los grupos cazadores terrestres que vivieron en la zona hacia aproximadamente 4.500 años AP. El conjunto permite caracterizar algunos esquemas de desbaste, con énfasis en un sistema técnico basado en la gestión de núcleos con volúmenes bifaciales destinados a producir lascas, las que luego son formatizadas por retoque en raederas, raspadores y otros instrumentos. También se registran otras cadenas operatorias menos representadas, como son un proyecto laminar y el uso de métodos de desbaste sobre yunque. Destacamos la débil presencia de series orientadas a la manufactura de bifaces o métodos de façonnage.PALABRAS CLAVES: Tecnología, economía, lítico, Patagonia. TECHNO-ECONOMIC STUDY OF CERRO CASTILLO LITHICINDUSTRY (PROVINCIA ÚLTIMA ESPERANZA, CHILE). ABSTRACTThe present techno-economic study of lithic materials recovered in Cerro Castillo 1 site, provincia de Última Esperanza -Chile, delivers new precedents about the terrestrial hunter groups that lived in the area approximately 4.500 years BP. The set allows characterizing reduction schemes that emphasize technical systems based on the management of bifacial volumes in flake core production, which are then transformed by retouch in sidescrapers, endscrapers and other instruments. Other less represented operative chains are also recorded, as a blade project and the use of percussion over anvil methods. The weak presence of series orientated to the manufacture of bifacial artifacts or façonnage methods is emphasized.

Under the Magdatis project a new evolutionary model has been proposed for the Middle and Upper Magdalenian based on a review of several lithic assemblages from southwest France. The Lower Magdalenian is not addressed in this article. Single lithic assemblages and stratigraphic sequences have been compared according to several parameters: the origin of the siliceous raw materials, the interconnection between domestic tool production and hunting armatures, and the typo-technology of the microliths. Alongside the new techno-economic data, the geographical distribution of certain practices and particular artefacts in southwest France has led to a discussion of the cultural geography of the different phases of the Magdalenian between 19,000 and 14,000 cal BP. The Early Middle Magdalenian covers an extensive European cultural territory, demonstrating social interactions over vast distances both in the circulation of raw materials and in the distribution of certain morphotypes of lithic armament. The Late Middle Magdalenian appears to correspond to a phase of population contraction in which cultural emulation is observed among lithic tool kits in the socioeconomic value placed on large blades. The Early Upper Magdalenian coincides with the renewed settlement of the north Aquitaine plains. Among the technological innovations observed is the development of lithic points on small blades, leading to a first geographical division of the southwest (Aquitaine Basin versus Pyrenees). Finally, the Late Upper Magdalenian confirms this evolution of lithic equipment with new developments in lithic armaments in parallel with some easing off of the technical constraints associated with blade production. This period thus coincides with the progressive dilution of Magdalenian norms. With these four phases of the Middle and Upper Magdalenian, it is possible to gain a clearer understanding of the sequence of technical and economic changes observed in an environment in recomposition. At the same time, population fluctuations over these five millennia can be associated with developing phenomena of regionalism, particularly in the southwest of France.