Early Holocene blade technology in southern Brazil

• We describe an Early Holocene blade industry in southern Brazil.
• This is the first evidence of blade production in Brazil.
• The core preparation method is centripetal and production is unidirectional.
• This study demonstrates a case of technological convergence.

This article presents the results of the technological analysis of assemblages from the sites of Alto Alegre 3, Linha Policial 1 and Linha Policial 3 in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), dated to the Early Holocene. Alongside other reduction sequences, these sites also present sequences for exclusive blade production, described for the first time for Brazilian prehistory. Despite the lack of cores, analysis of the blades has established that: (1) blade production took place using a single method, with centripetal core initialization and unidirectional production; (2) knapping techniques by direct hard and soft percussion were both used to produce blades; and (3) the blades obtained were destined for different functions, the active part mainly lateral and sometimes used without retouch. This study presents an example of obvious technological convergence, since blade production is known in other prehistoric contexts throughout the world without historical links with that observed at the three sites analyzed here. It also shows the necessity of developing detailed technological analyses to understand the settling of South America in all its complexity.

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