Production and Distribution of Fishing Artifacts on Mussel Shells (Choromytilus chorus) during the Middle Holocene on the coast of Taltal, Atacama Desert, Chile.

Summary

Two Middle Holocene residential camps (7500 to 45000 years cal B.P.)

on the Atacama Desert Coast show differences in their mussel shell

fishing tools (MSFT) assemblages. One archaeological site has a high

abundance of fishhooks and mussel debris, together with the absence of

fishing weights. The other site, 50 kilometers north, has low

abundance of fishhooks and mussel debris, and the presence of fishing

weights. The differences observed in the MSFT assemblages of these two

sites, suggest the emphasis of differential activities towards the

production of mainly fishhooks at one site and fishing weights at the

other. Are these differences related to coastal conditions and

resource availability, fishing strategies or socio-economic contexts?

Spatial variability of upwelling activity and its consequence on fish

community and productivity, together with increasing maritime

subsistence, specialized technology and social complexity may have

played a role. The Middle Holocene is a time period when maritime

economies flourished all around the world. The appearance of fishing

tools such as hooks and canoes have been linked to processes of social

transformation and complexity and the coast of the Atacama Desert in

Chile does not seems to be an exception.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage