EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ABOUT THE DYNAMIC OF POSTDEPOSITACIONAL PROCESSES ON USE TRACES: ARTEFACTUAL INTEGRITY OF COMPONENTE 1 IN MARIPE CAVE SITE (SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA)

The materials recovered from archaeological excavations, has been affected by different post- depositional processes, whether natural or anthropic. This processes results in transfer, mix and reorganization of the objects limiting to a large extent, the integrity thereof. In this sense, the assessment of multiple cultural and natural processes involved in the formation of archaeological deposits, is essential to infer the conditions that contributes to the formation of archaeological sites in general. The stone tools are the material sign from which can begin the study of site formation processes and their behavior on archaeological record by experimental analogue. Thus, the objective of this study was to deepen the knowledge about these processes and their actions on the use traces found in lithic artifacts recovered from the Maripe Cave (Santa Cruz, Argentina) archaeological site with human occupations since early Holocene. The action of water as modifying agent may have influenced the changes of the surfaces and edges of stone tools, affecting differentially the conservation degree of micro-wear traces in different sectors of the cave. To assess the functional variability of artifacts, we present the results applying two independent studies: functional and diatom analysis.