Fixed if by Ice, Loose if by Sea? Harpoon Technology as Evidence of Hunting-Scapes in the Neoglacial Eastern Aleutian Islands

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The effect of cooling climate during the Neoglacial period (3000-5000 BP) on societies in the Eastern Aleutian Islands is contested. Some archaeologists have argued that the appearance of toggling harpoon heads by 3000 BP indicate an adaptation to hunting marine mammals in an icy environment. This conclusion is problematic because toggling harpoons were frequently used in ice-free environments. Here, we examine whether the entire harpoon technological system—and particularly the foreshaft—are better indicators of past hunting-scapes, and we examine the implications this has for understanding hunting strategy in the Neoglacial Eastern Aleutians.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40149.0