Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 June 2020
El estudio de la génesis de los montículos de la cuenca de la Laguna Merín, Uruguay, se focalizó en el aporte de sedimentos y elementos descartados. Investigaciones basadas en la geoquímica de la matriz llevaron a considerar el rol del fuego en su elevación. Ensayamos contrastar su presencia por medio de las técnicas de datación por luminiscencia. Si las edades o paleodosis medidas por luminiscencia ópticamente estimulada (OSL, por sus siglas en inglés) y por termoluminiscencia (TL) de diferentes fracciones de la matriz son similares, próximas o con cierto grado de superposición, entonces el agente de blanqueo tiene que haber sido el calor. La hipótesis fue verificada en montículos de tres sitios arqueológicos ubicados en el sur de la cuenca. La evidencia de que estaríamos frente a prácticas recursivas que producen acumulaciones de sedimento termoalterados nos condujo a los hornos de tierra y los oven mounds de Australia. La presencia de hornos de tierra prehistóricos ya fue reconocida en Uruguay. Los oven mounds son un potente análogo etnográfico-arqueológico que ilustra sobre procesos de formación de acumulaciones de sedimento termoalterado, al mismo tiempo que permite abordar aspectos socioeconómicos y simbólicos. Por último, a partir de las implicaciones de la hipótesis, señalamos la pertinencia de abordar los montículos a dos escalas: la de los comportamientos que los elevaron y la de su realidad como parches dentro del paisaje.
In this article, we study how sedimentation and the disposal of artifacts contribute to the genesis of the mounds of the Laguna Merín basin. Our previous geochemical investigations of the matrix indicated the fundamental role played by fire in mound formation. Currently, we use luminescence dating techniques to obtain other experimental data. Further, assuming that if different fractions of the matrix, form the same levels and have OSL/TL ages or paleodoses with some degree of overlap in their confidence intervals or are close to overlapping, then the bleaching agent must have been heated. This hypothesis was confirmed in mounds of three archaeological sites located in the southern area of the basin. Thus, we have verified that we are faced with repeated practices that lead to the accumulation of thermally altered sediments, analogous to oven mounds described in Australia. Prehistoric earth ovens have been identified in Uruguay. The oven mounds are a useful ethnographic analogy that illustrates the formation processes of thermally altered sediment accumulations that address socioeconomic and symbolic aspects of mound formation. Finally, we note that it is important to consider mound features at multiple scales: the behaviors that produced them, as well as their place on the landscape.
To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Dropbox account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Google Drive account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.