Strategies of prey capture and weapon system in huntergatherer societies that inhabited the low paraná river: an experimental and archaeological approach

Abstract

Tool assemblages from sites of hunter-gatherers that inhabited the low Paraná wetland during late Holocene times have a great variety of lithic and bone points. Among these last ones, we highlight the presence of stemmed points, bipoints and drilled points. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the link between these points and singular weapon systems and strategies developed for prey capture. For this purpose, in the first place, we evaluate physic, metric, morphologic and microscopic structures of prehistoric morphological groups and suggest their association with specific weapon systems. Following that, we developed an experimental program in order to test the expected performance under those circumstances.