Chapter 5 Bone Material and Design Choices in Southern Patagonia Vivian Scheinsohn Introduction In Patagonia (southern South America) bone technology has been recorded both in the insular area (Magellan channels and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego) as well as in Continental Patagonia. In the insular area bone tools are found in association with maritime littoral adaptations (Orquera and Piana 1999). Speciically on Isla Grande (Fig. 5.1), characterized by the presence of a steppe environment in the north and forest and mountains to the south, the littoral environment acquires importance in terms of the coast/total surface ratio (Muñoz 2002). Here, bone tools are abundant and show high variability in raw materials and design (Scheinsohn 1997; 2010a). In Continental Patagonia, characterized by the predominance of a steppe environment in the east and forest and mountains in the west, bone tools are scarce although nevertheless recorded at almost every site from the Pleistocene/Holocene transition on, although the choice of raw materials is limited as are the designs. In previous work, a model for bone raw material exploitation in Tierra del Fuego was developed and tested (Scheinsohn 1997; 2010a). his model proposed three stages in the bone raw material utilization at the island: experimental, exploitation and abandonment. he results demonstrated that between 7000–4500 BP there was no local experimental moment, given the knowledge of speciic bone properties and recorded high levels of design (meaning there were distinct morphological tool groups) standardization (Scheinsohn 2010a). Where and when did this experimental moment in bone technology take place? he irst place to look, Continental Patagonia, presents an ancient bone technology, irst studied at sites located in the Pali Aike Volcanic Field (PAVF). Using the information provided by those sites, Junius Bird established ive cultural periods, from I to V (Bird 1938) developing the irst chronological sequence for southern Patagonia. Period II was characterized by its bone points and tools. Later on, Menghin (1957) also supported the In Patagonia (southern South America) bone technology has been recorded both in the insular area (Magellanic channels and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego) as well as in Continental Patagonia. In the insular area it is found in association with maritime littoral adaptations and displays high variability in raw materials and design. In Continental Patagonia, bone tools are scarce but recorded in almost every site from Pleistocene/Holocene transition on, with restricted raw materials and designs. his paper concerns the results from three regions. Cerro Casa de Piedra, Pali Aike Volcanic Field and Tierra del Fuego are presented in order to test the vicariance model (Borrero 1989–1990) implications for bone technology. Keywords Patagonia-Tierra del Fuego; Hunter Gatherers; Bone Raw Materials; Bone Technology.