NO. 1 CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA 105 
PRECERAMIC CULTURES 
Archeological investigations during the past decade have demon- 
strated the existence of a number of preceramic cultures, not only in 
northwestern Argentina, but in adjacent parts of Chile and Bolivia. 
The earliest well-defined and dated preceramic tradition is the Ayam- 
pitin Culture (Gonzalez, 1960), characterized by lanceolate points 
thick in cross section; large, semicircular end or side scrapers; 
manos and metates; knives with curved edges. At the cave of Inti- 
huasi, this complex is carbon-14 dated at 6000 B.C. It appears to have 
extended over all of northwestern Argentina, and similar projectile 
points have been found at Viscachani, Bolivia, at Lauricocha, Peru, 
and at San Pedro Vie jo in the Valliserrana region of Chile. They are 
abundant in the Puna de Atacama, particularly in the Puripica-Tulan 
cultural phase, where their antiquity is probably equal to or slightly 
greater than in northwestern Argentina. One important difference be- 
tween these complexes with lanceolate points lies in the fact that those 
from the Puna de Atacama, Bolivia, and Peru appear to lack grinding 
implements, suggesting that in those regions the economy was based 
exclusively on hunting. 
We do not know yet whether the lanceolate-point tradition be- 
longed to the first human occupants of this region. Although chron- 
ological evidence is not reliable, there is a possiblity that there was 
an earlier group possessing different lithic traditions. In Viscachani, 
Bolivia, and at Gatchi in the Chilean Puna, traces have been found of 
an industry of crude bifaces and flakes that may be earlier than the 
lanceolate points. Similar lithic remains are reported from other parts 
of the continent, and all should be thoroughly investigated to deter- 
mine both their chronological position and their degree of interrela- 
tionship. 
Following the lanceolate-point horizon, there is a diversification in 
point types, including both stemmed and stemless varieties, perhaps as 
a result of the emergence and intermixing of regional traditions. It is 
difficult to synthesize these differences. Only one point appears so far 
to have clear temporal and regional distributions, and that is an 
isosceles triangle form, with a generally straight or slightly concave 
base and straight or curved sides. One variety is asymmetrical, hav- 
ing one basal angle larger than the other. Originally these points were 
erroneously classified as Ayampitin II, but they represent a com- 
pletely different tradition, one that does not occur at the type site of 
Ayampitin. It is well defined at Intihuasi cave, where it is superim- 
posed over the Ayampitin industry. The triangular points have also 
