Temporal Persistence of Spear-Thrower Use in Uruguay: Evidence from the Late Pleistocene and Late Holocene

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.

The plains of Uruguay are an appropriate place to investigate different aspects of lithic projectile technology used with spear-thrower and bow and arrow. During the initial settlement, we have recorded an interesting cultural diversity with at least four different designs of projectile points: Fishtail, Tigre, Pay Paso, and triangular non stemmed, which must have been used with a spear-thrower. The chronological evidence suggests the beginning of this weapon system around the late Pleistocene (ca. 12,900 cal BP) and their extended during the early Holocene (ca. 10,300 cal BP). There is also direct evidence of spear-thrower use in Uruguay during the late Holocene (ca. 1800–1000 cal BP), some atlatl bone/antler hooks or spurs have been recovered in archaeological contexts, which are presented and discussed here. In addition, there are data that indicate the use of manufactured projectiles to be used with bow and arrow. It is not yet clear how the latest weapons system enters the region. This presentation discusses the broad temporal persistence, possible cultural transmission, and invention-reinvention of spear-throwers in Uruguay.

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): 38783.0