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. 2022 Oct 25;12(1):16964.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-21287-0.

Changes in projectile design and size of prey reveal the central role of Fishtail points in megafauna hunting in South America

Luciano Prates  1   2 , Diego Rivero  3   4 , S Ivan Perez  3   5
Affiliations

Changes in projectile design and size of prey reveal the central role of Fishtail points in megafauna hunting in South America

Luciano Prates et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Fishtail projectile points are the earliest widespread projectile type in South America, and share chronology and techno-morphology with Clovis, the oldest North American projectile type. Both were temporally associated with late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions. Although the elusive direct evidence of human exploitation of megafauna in South America had kept Fishtails out of the extinction debate, a recent paper showed a strong relationship between the temporal density and spatial distribution of megafauna and Fishtail projectile points, and proposed that this weapon was designed and used for megafauna hunting, contributing to their extinction. If so, this technology must be distinctly different from post-FPP technologies (i.e., early Holocene projectile points), used for hunting smaller prey, in terms of distribution and functional properties. In this paper, we explore the changes in projectile point technology, as well as the body mass of potential megafaunal prey, and show that Fishtails were strongly related to the largest extinct megafaunal species.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spatial distribution of southern South American projectile points. Maps showing the potential distribution of latest Pleistocene (a) and early Holocene projectile points (b). Colors represent potential for distribution values above 0.6 (light colors) and 0.8 (strong colors). For Tigre and Pay Paso projectile points only the sites were graphed because of the small sample size. Northern South American sites with Fishtail projectile points also were graphed as small black points. Map generated with QGIS 3.16 'Hannover' (https://qgis.org/en/site/index.html).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summed probability distribution curves for three regions in southern South America. The temporal changes are displayed for Andes (a), Pampa (b), and Patagonia (c), using the estimated SCPD curve of each projectile point type or style. We only include projectile point types dated as older than 8.5 k years Cal BP.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatter-plot of the relationship between thickness and width on a logarithmic scale of the six projectile point types separately. The solid line is the least-squares regression line of the data points representing the mean values for each projectile point type. The gray area represents the confidence interval of the least-squares line. Projectile points with means in the upper left above the regression line display designs that maximize robustness, and points in the lower right below the regression line display designs that maximize penetration. The tip cross-sectional perimeter (TCSP) and work investment (WI) are also displayed in color gradient (values expressed in millimeters) and ball size, respectively. See Buchanan and Hamilton for a similar approach to explore effectiveness and damage capability.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Body size variation in megafaunal species hunted by humans. Box-plots of body mass (in kg) of megafauna by region and period. The graph shows the minimum and maximum values (whiskers), the first and third quartiles (bounds of box), and the median (center line).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Box-plots of TCSP index by projectile point type (values expressed in millimeters), displaying the typical form of each type at the top of the x-axis. The graph shows the minimum and maximum values (whiskers), the first and third quartiles (bounds of box), and the median (center line). The functional assignment of projectile points is based on ethnographic and experimental data.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Box-plots of TCSP index by projectile point type and Body mass of megafauna by region and period, both data in z-score scale. The graph shows the minimum and maximum values (whiskers), the first and third quartiles (bounds of box), and the median (center line). Maps representing species diversity and projectile points distributions were generated with QGIS 3.16 'Hannover' (https://qgis.org/en/site/index.html).
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