Explorando cadenas operativas y sistemas de armas en puntas cola de pescado de Patagonia argentina

DARIA HERMO; LAURA MIOTTI; ENRIQUE TARRANOVA

Necochea

Simposio; IX Simposio Internacional el hombre temprano en América; 2018

CONICET, UENecochea y Museo municipal

Exploring operative chains and weapons systems in fish tail projectile points of Patagonia, Argentina.One of the most recognized artifacts of the material culture of the early stages of the peopling of America are the fishtail (FTP), which stand out as artifacts distributed throughout much of the continent, from the Magellan basin to southern Mexico. Chronologies of these objects vary between ca. 9000 and 11,500 years BP. The variability of contexts in which FTPs appear is also wide and includes records of isolated artifacts, as well as assemblages with different technological, functional and environmental contexts. Similarly, the FTP findings in Patagonia are consistent with this variability.In this paper, we analyze the evidence of archaeological sites with FTPs from both Deseado Massif (Santa Cruz province) and Somuncurá plateau (Río Negro province) in order to recognize the manufacturing sequences. The objectives are: a) to identify the reduction sequences to obtain FTPs, b) to compare these sequences for places in two Patagonian plateaus, distant from each other approximately 700 km (Somuncurá and Deseado), and c) to discuss the weapon systems related to the PCPs.Based on both, technical characteristics of the FTPs and comparative analyses, we explore interpretations at different scales to understand the possible roles played by these pieces during the initial settlement of Patagonia. The first results indicate that FTPs were manufactured using at least two operational chains: one that goes through of bifacial reduction/thinning stages, and another in which the manufacturing starts with thin flakes. Analyzes indicate a certain diversity in technical procedures (i.e. blank selection, fluting), as well as differences in designs (i.e. size, shoulders, maintainability). If we consider the role of FTPs strictly as weapons, and if their morphologies are strongly related to hafting and aerodynamics, so it is necessary to ask why there were differences in design/technical decisions.Whit this question in mind, we propose the possibility that FTPs have worked in at least two weapons systems. On the one hand, we estimate that a large part of the PCPs was manufactured to be used in a dart/atlatl system. On the other hand, the FTPs from Piedra Museo archaeological site does not agree with the dimensional and morphological parameters of such weapon system, so its usefulness is proposed as part of hand weapons (i.e. spear, pike, dagger) or in other realms of use.