Fig 1.
Map of the study area showing sites and regions discussed.
A. Map at ~32° S, B. Central Chile, C. South America showing: archaeological sites (gray circles), archaeological sites with fishtail points in quartz (white circles), locations sampled for quartz natural distribution (squares), paleoenvironmental coring sites (triangles) discussed in this study. 1. Quebrada Santa Julia, 2. Punta Ñagué, 3. Punta Penitente, 4. Quereo Norte, 5. Quereo Perfil, 6. Punta Purgatorio. 7. Palo Colorado, 8. Pichidangui, 9. Taguatagua 2.
Fig 2.
General plan and schematic cross section of Valiente site.
Capital letters stand for the designated areas in the site.
Fig 3.
A. General view of El Naranjo ravine in the front and the quartz mine in the back; the red arrow points to excavation area X. B. and C. section and plan photographs of the excavation at 62 cm (12,730–12,590 cal BP) of area X. Red flags: lithics, blue flags: bone and charcoal fragments.
Fig 4.
Stratigraphy of Valiente site.
A. schematic site profile showing stratigraphic units, B. southwest stratigraphy of excavated units E1, D1 and C1 from area X showing stratigraphic sub units and excavated levels, C. depth/age model of the archaeological deposit.
Table 1.
Radiocarbon chronology of the Valiente site.
Fig 5.
Distribution of archaeological material across excavated levels.
Left scale is for lithic specimens (complete and fragments), right scale is for bone and charcoal fragments.
Fig 6.
Spatial distribution of archaeological material between 12,690–12,550 cal BP.
Considers piece plotted specimens between 52 and 82 cm; X and Y axis are in cm.
Table 2.
Summarized frequencies of the lithic assemblage.
Fig 7.
Main technological attributes of the lithic assemblage.
Considers only complete and proximal fragments of piece plotted specimens.
Table 3.
Flake classes represented in the lithic assemblage.
Fig 8.
Selected quartz artifacts from Valiente.
A.1. fishtail -type point preform mid-section (#304, unit A2, 52–62 cm), A.2. fishtail-type point preform stem (#305, unit A1, 52–62 cm), B. point fragment, mid-section (#RPA, exposed profile), C. lithic awl (#931, unit E2, 22–32 cm), D. bifacial blank (#184, unit A2, 42–52 cm), E. bifacial blank (#262, unit A2, 52–62 cm), F. scraper (#1080, unit E2, 22–32 cm), G. notched flake (#2528, unit B3, 42–52 cm), H. bimarginal cutting tool (#1775, unit C2, 42–52 cm).
Table 4.
Flake classes represented in the lithic assemblage.
Table 5.
Taxonomical identification of bone material across the excavated levels.
Table 6.
Quartz occurrence and frequencies in local late Pleistocene to early Holocene sites.