Shell fishhooks from Chile. Technological knowledge and tradition of coastal and maritime societies along the Pacific coast of South America

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Fishing Technologies: Exploring Manufacturing Techniques and Styles, Traditions, Exchange, Migration and More" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The use of hooks made of shells is a practice carried out by the first fishers along the Pacific Ocean. Evidence of these artifacts is found on coastal sites with antiquities up to 11000 years before present. The study of hooks manufacturing techniques is one approach to study first fisher societies. Each stage of hook production is the result of technological and ecological knowledge about the raw material, habitat to explore and desired prey. In this way, the study of shell fishhooks´ manufacture marks allow us not only to deepen our knowledge on these artifacts but also on the logic and knowledge of ancient fishing and artisanal societies.

In this study we present the results of analysis done on archaeological shell fishhooks from several sites along the north coast of Chile with date between 8000 and 4000 years cal BP. Through a detail description of striation characteristics such as direction, width, length, density, among others, we aim to compare techniques and intensity of work and explore how shell fishhooks were made during the Mid Holocene along the Chilean cost. As rich evidence of shell fishhooks is found around the Pacific Coast, we also proposed some guidelines for wider comparative studies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Fishing Technologies: Exploring Manufacturing Techniques and Styles, Traditions, Exchange, Migration and More

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50901