Towards an artefact's-eye view: Non-site analysis of discard patterns and lithic technology in Neotropical settings with a case from Misiones province, Argentina

Abstract

Surface scatters are an important source of archaeological data in the Neotropics, yet despite their role in exploring regional land use, existing frameworks have serious methodological and theoretical drawbacks. This study proposes a robust alternative to site-centric approaches, by examining spatial and technological variability in time-averaged deposits of artefacts collected from the modern surface of Misiones province, north-eastern Argentina. A family of spatial statistical techniques supported by Monte Carlo simulation identify statistically significant inhomogeneity and clustering in lithic point pattern data. This highlights interaction between technologically meaningful sub-samples of four assemblages, which is interpreted as reflecting long-term discard and association of distinctive reduction sequences. These are irreducible to individual episodes, demonstrating that partitioning palimpsests into sites poorly reflects record formation on a landscape level. This illustrates how explicit models of depositional trends can provide information on indigenous land use, and underlines the rich informative potential of surface archaeology in tropical settings.

Spatial structure among the geometric earthworks of western Amazonia (Acre, Brazil)

“…With the data currently available, we cannot at present preclude that both function and meaning also changed substantially over the two millennia or more of their existence. Multiscalar point pattern analysis has emerged as one of the solutions for direct analyses of the complexity of the archaeological record (Bevan et al 2013;Eve and Crema 2014;Riris 2017;Dreslerová and Demján 2019). These methods offer an advantage over fixed-scale descriptive spatial statistics, such as nearest neighbour, which are easily confounded by the spatially variable nature of much archaeological data (Riris 2017;Carrero-Pazos et al 2019).…”

“…Multiscalar point pattern analysis has emerged as one of the solutions for direct analyses of the complexity of the archaeological record (Bevan et al 2013;Eve and Crema 2014;Riris 2017;Dreslerová and Demján 2019). These methods offer an advantage over fixed-scale descriptive spatial statistics, such as nearest neighbour, which are easily confounded by the spatially variable nature of much archaeological data (Riris 2017;Carrero-Pazos et al 2019). In another sense, computational modelling also offers the opportunity to test the myriad interpretations of the archaeological record.…”

Spatial Structure among the Geometric Earthworks of western Amazonia (Acre, Brazil)

“…Multiscalar point pattern analysis has emerged as one of the solutions for direct analyses of the complexity of the archaeological record (Bevan et al 2013; Eve and Crema 2014; Riris 2017; Dreslerová and Demján 2019). These methods offer an advantage over fixed-scale descriptive spatial statistics, such as nearest neighbour, which are easily confounded by the spatially variable nature of much archaeological data (Riris 2017;Carrero-Pazos et al 2019). In another sense, computational modelling also offers the opportunity to test the myriad interpretations of the archaeological record.…”

Modelagens arqueológicas no litoral sul catarinense: sambaquianos na região da Lagoa de Imaruí

“…Apesar do desenvolvimento dos SIG começar a partir das décadas de 1970, essa tecnologia estava inicialmente muito circunscrita às ciências da Terra, apenas a partir dos anos 1990 com os avanços da informática que ela começa a ser mais utilizada na arqueologia (Riris 2010). O uso destas técnicas por arqueólogos se desenvolve principalmente a partir de pesquisas com perspectivas geoarqueológicas, buscando integrar dados e modelos ambientais com dados culturais de sítios arqueológicos.…”

“…Sendo assim, existe um grande número de modelos que podem ser produzidos para exprimir estas relações. Podemos destacar alguns dos modelos mais recorrentes para a arqueologia: modelos preditivos de localização de sítios (Kipnis 1997;Thomaz 2002;Verhagen 2007;Fonseca Júnior 2013;Kozlowski 2018), modelos de evolução ambiental e a relação com ocupação humana (Wescott & Brandon 2000;Kneip 2004;Saldanha 2005;) e os modelos de visibilidade entre sítios e os modelos de rotas de trânsito entre sítios (Riris 2010;Llobera et al 2011;D'Ávila 2017;Kozlowski & Corteletti 2019;Milheira et al 2019;Merencio & DeBlasis 2021). 4 Disponível em: http://www.mappaproject.org/?lang=en 5 Disponível em: https://www.globalxplorer.org/ 6 Disponível em: http://www.chronocarto.eu/ 7 Disponível em: https://floripaarqueologica.com.br/ 8 Disponível em: https://sicg.iphan.gov.br 9 Um dos trabalhos pioneiros na modelagem preditiva arqueológica está presente na obra de Judge e Sebastian (1988), uma coletânea de artigos que apresentam noções sobre técnicas de modelagem para identificação de sítios arqueológicos.…”