Date and context of early mussel shell fishhooks (Choromytilus chorus) from the southern coast of the Atacama Desert, Taltal, Chile.
Author(s): Laura Olguin; Carola Flores; Sandra Rebolledo; Diego Salazar
Year: 2016
Summary
Fishing tools made on marine shells are an important aspect in the economy of prehistoric fishing groups around the world. The oldest shell fishhook along the Pacific Coast of the American Continent dates around 10000 years BP and comes from Baja California, Mexico. On the northern coast of Chile, fishhooks on mussel shell (Choromytilus chorus) have been recovered from the archaeological site of Morro Colorado with dates between 8500 and 6500 cal BP. The appearance of this technology marks the transition from coastal to maritime economies along the coast of the Atacama Desert. In this paper we will present contextual data of the mussel shell fishhooks from Morro Colorado and compare this evidence with other early fishing technologies along the Pacific coast.
Cite this Record
Date and context of early mussel shell fishhooks (Choromytilus chorus) from the southern coast of the Atacama Desert, Taltal, Chile.. Laura Olguin, Carola Flores, Sandra Rebolledo, Diego Salazar. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404631)
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Keywords
General
Fishhooks
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maritime economies
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Pacific Coast
Geographic Keywords
South America
Spatial Coverage
min long: -93.691; min lat: -56.945 ; max long: -31.113; max lat: 18.48 ;