A Study of the Free-Backing Bow-and-Arrow System’s Functions and Social Implications in Western Alaska (AD 600–Nineteenth Century) by the Use of a Morphometrical and Mechanical Methodology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Global “Impact” of Projectile Technologies: Updating Methods and Regional Overviews of the Invention and Transmission of the Spear-Thrower and the Bow and Arrow" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Around AD 600, cultural dynamics and a technology shift emerge among coastal Alaska Neo-Inuit people. Archaeological sites show evidence of the adoption, in a unique and innovative way, of a recurved or reflex bow of highly probable Asian origin, reinforced with twisted sinew cables. Known as the “free-backing bow, ”historically this innovation is documented by rich ethnographic collections from the Aleutians to Greenland and within the larger Bering Strait region. Yet many morphological variations regarding the bow’s profile, sinew-backing type, arrow morphology, and subsequent functions remain poorly documented. In this paper, we present our analysis of some of the earliest remains of this bow technology from the Birnirk and Kugusugaruk sites near Utqiagvik, northern Alaska with comparison to ethnographic collections. These bows and arrows are analyzed as intertwining systems looking at both their morphometrical and mechanical features while systematically recording their structural and materials components and conducting simulation of arrow shots using a 3D software. This systematic and system-oriented approach to ancient bow technology can be a valuable cultural marker in our quest to better understand the cultural interactions and means of technology adoption in the Bering Strait at a key moment in the cultural development of the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• The Global “Impact” of Projectile Technologies: Updating Methods and Regional Overviews of the Invention and Transmission of the Spear-Thrower and the Bow and Arrow

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39808.0