Los Toldos (Santa Cruz) facts for kids
| Location | Santa Cruz Province, Argentina |
|---|---|
| Region | Patagonia |
| Coordinates | 47°27′00″S 68°50′00″W / 47.45000°S 68.83333°W |
| History | |
| Periods | Late Glacial Interstadial and Holocene |
| Cultures | Toldense and Tehuelche |
Los Toldos is an archaeological site in Santa Cruz, Argentina. It shows signs of human activity from almost 13,000 years ago! This important place gives its name to the Toldense culture group.
Where is Los Toldos?
The site is found south of the Deseado River. It is located in a place called Canadon de las Cuevas.
Cave 3: A Window to the Past
Cave 3 at Los Toldos is right next to a ravine. People lived in this cave about 12,000 years ago. The entrance to the cave is about 12 meters wide.
Archaeologists led by Augusto Cárdich from the National University of La Plata (UNLP) have dug deep into the cave. They found twelve different layers of ground, each telling a story. These layers go down two meters in total.
What Each Layer Tells Us
Each layer in the cave is like a chapter in a history book. Here’s what archaeologists found:
| Layer | What We Found |
|---|---|
| 1 | This layer shows signs of the Tehuelche culture. Not many tools were found here. |
| 2 | This layer also had very few tools or artifacts. |
| 3 | Many stone tools were found here! This means the cave was used a lot during this time. They found arrowheads, scrapers, and bones from animals like guanacos, deer, foxes, rodents, and birds. |
| 4–5 | These layers are special because they show a volcanic eruption happened. There's a layer of ash here. No human tools or bones were found, so these layers are called "sterile." |
| 6–7 | These layers belong to a culture called "Casa Pedra" or "Casapedrenca." People from this culture made many stone tools, probably for hunting guanacos. This culture was active about 7,500 years ago in Patagonia. Many large scrapers and knives were found here. |
| 8 | This layer had very few stone tools. This suggests the cave might have been empty during this time. |
| 9–10 | These layers are very important for understanding the Toldense culture. Archaeologists found special spearheads and many large scrapers. These tools are between 9,000 and 11,000 years old. Bones of guanacos, rheas, and horses were also found. |
| 11–12 | These are the oldest layers, dating from 11,000 to 13,000 years ago. They contain many stone tools, including early spear points and scrapers. These tools show that early hunters lived here. They hunted horses like Parahippus and camelids (like guanacos). This early technology helped the Toldense Culture develop later on. |
See also
- Cueva de las Manos — Another nearby cave site with amazing prehistoric paintings. It also has some Toldense artifacts.
- Piedra Museo — An archaeological site nearby that also has Toldense artifacts.
