Small artifacts among the hunter-gatherers of the southern La Plata Basin

Abstract

Abstract Small artifacts and miniatures are reduced objects that can be connected to rituals, children’s activities and small game. Material correlates can be established for these different hypotheses. In the southern end of the La Plata basin, small artifacts were recovered from different late Holocene hunter-gatherer archaeological sites, but the functional explanation is not clear. The aim of this paper is to discuss the presence of small artifacts in the regional record from the regular morphological groups of harpoon heads, atlatl hooks, lithic spheroids, and labrets. Firstly, we statistically evaluate the metrical structure of the complete sample to identify small size outliers. Secondly, we analyze the physical, morphological, and functional structure of the small artefacts to discuss if they segregate from the regular sample in other properties rather than only the size. The results show that a reduced number of artifacts are segregated from the regular sample, although variability among morphological groups is noticed in the raw material and use-wear patterns. In the case of harpoons and atlatl hooks, variable behaviors are recorded where children’s use is a possibility, but raw material mediated strategies and recycling of tools cannot be discarded. Labrets were intended for small people; and a lithic spheroid could have been made by a novice. Although no conclusive statement can be done because of the multiple nature of the archaeological record, our interpretations constitute a first approximation to the presence of children in the hunter-gatherer societies under study, which must be confronted through new studies and samples.