Osseous points and harpoon heads from Šventoji Subneolithic sites, coastal Lithuania. First traceological insight into the way they were produced and used

Osipowicz, Grzegorz; Orłowska, Justyna; Piličiauskas, Gytis; Piličiauskienė, Giedrė; Bosiak, Mariusz J.

doi:10.33918/25386514-046005

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…It looks similar to those collected by González in Rumipal and Cueva de los Indios (González, 1943, 1949). However, the most similar well‐studied analogues were the bone heads of massive thrusting spears published by Zhilin (2017), Lozovskaya and Lozovski (2019), Osipowicz et al (2020), and Vitezović (2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bone spearheads from the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Cordoba (Argentina)

Medina

Sario

Pastor

2022

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The archaeological record of the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Córdoba, Argentina (~1220–330 cal BP) has revealed a rich and highly developed bone industry. The worked bones are purported to include various types of hunting or warfare weapons such as arrowheads, knives and daggers, or bleeders. However, most of the latter two tools can now be interpreted as spear or spear‐thrower dart heads based on ethnographic and macro‐wear studies. Thus, the aim of this article is to present the techno‐typological and functional analysis carried out on the bone spearheads collected at the San Roque archaeological locality (Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina). Spearheads are defined as massive and strong pointed tools that are suitable for hafting to a shaft about 15 mm or more in diameter, which corresponds to ethnographic spears or darts. The tools were assigned to the Late Prehispanic Period based on their similarity with those recovered in neighboring sites and regions during the last 1,500 years. The study supports the contention that Late Prehispanic people developed a variable and highly sophisticated set of weapons suitable for taking any animal resource when encountered, minimizing the cost of failure in the capture of the prey they depended on. However, warfare and the use of spears in raids against other groups need to be taken into account because evidence of physical interpersonal violence increases in the Late Prehispanic Period. Finally, it is proposed that museum collections can provide valuable data for archaeologists, mostly when artifacts with low frequency in modern excavations are the focus of the analysis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bone spearheads from the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Cordoba (Argentina)

Medina

Sario

Pastor

2022

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…As our analysis has demonstrated not all the pointed tools are projectiles [cf. 76 ], although they are often grouped under this label [e.g., 10 , 65 ]. Also, since barbed points are often reworked, the morphology of the barbs we see may result from the practical constraints of resharpening and repairing the object, such as the size or shape of the blank.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dynamic lives of osseous points from Late Palaeolithic/Early Mesolithic Doggerland: A detailed functional study of barbed and unbarbed points from the Dutch North Sea

Aleo,

Kozowyk,

Baron

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Osseous barbed and unbarbed points are commonly recovered from the Dutch North Sea and other Mesolithic sites of northern Europe. Interpreted as elements of projectile weaponry, barbed points are considered by archaeologists to be a technological innovation in the hunting equipment of hunter-gatherers. However, debate about their exact use and identification of the targeted prey species is still ongoing. To shed light on the function of these tools, we analysed a sample of 17 artefacts from the Netherlands with a multi-disciplinary approach encompassing morphometric, functional, and chemical analysis. 14C-AMS dating yielded the oldest date for a barbed point from the Dutch coast (⁓13000 cal. BP). The observation of microwear traces preserved on the tools provides solid evidence to interpret the function of barbed and unbarbed points. We show that there were two distinct tool categories. 1) Barbed points hafted with birch tar and animal or vegetal binding were likely projectile tips for terrestrial and aquatic hunting. We provide strong clues to support the link between small barbed points and fishing using wear traces. 2) Points without barbs served as perforators for animal hides. Our results highlight the importance of use-wear and residue analysis to reconstruct prehistoric hunting activities. The functional interpretation of projectile points must also rely on microwear traces and not merely on the association with faunal remains, historical sources, and ethnographic comparisons.

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Towards understanding the influence of Neolithisation for communities using the Zvejnieki cemetery, Latvia: A technological and functional analysis of the osseous artefacts discovered in the Late Mesolithic burial no 57 and Neolithic burial no 164

Osipowicz

Orłowska

Zagorska

2023

Quaternary International

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Osseous points and harpoon heads from Šventoji Subneolithic sites, coastal Lithuania. First traceological insight into the way they were produced and used

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Bone spearheads from the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Cordoba (Argentina)

Bone spearheads from the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Cordoba (Argentina)

The dynamic lives of osseous points from Late Palaeolithic/Early Mesolithic Doggerland: A detailed functional study of barbed and unbarbed points from the Dutch North Sea

Towards understanding the influence of Neolithisation for communities using the Zvejnieki cemetery, Latvia: A technological and functional analysis of the osseous artefacts discovered in the Late Mesolithic burial no 57 and Neolithic burial no 164

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