A bone core: new contributions to the understanding of bone technology in the Gran Chaco of South America (Argentina)

In this article, we present the results of the analysis of a modified bone fragment of Rhea americana (greater Rhea), providing new information regarding prehispanic osteological technology in the Paraguay-Parana sector of the Argentinean Chaco at Late Holocene. With the aim of characterizing the stages of production, we describe manufacturing marks. One mark was analyzed with a Scanning Electron Microscope to identify the material with which the cut marks had been produced (i.e., stone or shell edge). Based on this analysis, we define the bone element as a core with "sketched extraction": a piece in which a base form that has not yet been extracted is evidenced. We propose that the manufacturing technique consisted of making grooves using valve edges (Diplodon sp.). This research constitutes the first evidence of the use of mollusk shell edges in the process of making bone tools in archaeological sites in Argentina.