Shell Fishhooks on C. chorus Mussel Shell (7500 to 4500 Years BP) from the Atacama Desert Coast (Chile)

Summary

Fishing was a crucial aspect in the lifeway of ancient coastal societies. Along the Pacific Coast, the appearance of shell fishhooks has been interpreted as part of different contexts of growing population, economic specialization, and social complexity, among others. Along the coast of the Atacama Desert (18° to 26° Lat. South), fishhooks on Choromytilus chorus shells (mussel) appear in archaeological sites located along 1.6 thousand kilometers of coast with dates around 7500 years BP. Around 4500 BP. shell fishhooks disappeared from the Chilean archaeological record and were replaced by hooks made of cactus spines and animal bones. During the ~3000 years that hooks on mussel shells were present, archaeological deposits show evidence of increasing social complexity, specialized maritime economy and semi-sedentary settlement systems. Changes in hook´s shapes are also identified. Observed changes in fishing technology suggest deep changes within ancient fishing communities of South America, which were probably linked by long distance movements of people along thousands of kilometers. The present work will discuss the archaeological context of mussel shell fishhooks within the transitions experienced by Middle Holocene fishing communities of the Northern Coast of Chile.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22204