Radiocarbon dates, projectile points, and the spread of bow-and-arrow technology in Sierras of Córdoba (Argentina)

Abstract

The analysis of chipped-stone and bone projectile points recovered from the Late Holocene sites of Sierras of Córdoba (Argentina) are presented in this article. The aim is to establish the chronology of the initial spread of bow-and-arrow technology in the region and the social context in which it occurred. Projectile points were related to radiocarbon dates, classified in typological sub-groups and functionally assigned to arrow or atlatl dart points based on gross weight, shoulder width, and neck width. The earliest evidence of the use of the bow and arrow was documented ca. 1300 cal years BP in archaic forager's context. However, their use was widespread ca. 1200 cal years BP, when a mobile mixed foraging and cultivation economy was adopted. Within this frame, the use of bow-delivered projectiles facilitated a broad-spectrum foraging base and minimized the cost of failure in the capture of the prey they depended on. It also led to adjusting the hunting or defense strategy to the size of the groups, encouraging the development of more independent family-based economic and political systems, and facilitating that minimal social units colonized new farming lands or hunting territories.