Pearl Oyster Shell Fishhooks from the Cañada de la Enfermería Sureste 3 Site, La Paz Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico

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.

Modified pearl oyster (Pinctada mazatlanica) shells, which may represent fishhooks and/or ornaments, were recovered from various sites on Espiritu Santo Island, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and directly dated to ∼8700 calBP. At the Cañada de la Enfermería Sureste 3 site, located just north of La Paz, eleven pearl oyster fishhooks and/or ornaments, including preforms were found in excavated deposits with dates spanning the Early and Middle Holocene. Identified fish remains from these deposits are composed of 12 orders, 27 families, 10 genus and 13 species, and mostly inhabit sandy and rocky areas and coral reefs in bays and estuaries that were likely captured using shell fishhooks, fishing spears or lances and nets. Here we present AMS radiocarbon dates of several fragments of pearl oyster fishhooks, along with morphology, dimensions and possible manufacturing processes. We also discuss the types of fish identified at the site that may have been captured with this fishing tackle.

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): 50836