The study of the bow and arrow system used by hunter-gatherer societies represents a great difficulty for the archaeological record. In most archaeological contexts remains only a minor part of the system: the lithic or bone end. However, in the case of Tierra del Fuego the written and ethnographic collections deposited in museums are alternative resources of knowledge for not only an approaching to the adoption of this type of weapon but also their manufacture. The general objective of this work is generate information about the characteristics of the bow and arrow system used by native peoples of southernmost South America. The specific objectives are two: to identify the raw material used for the manufacture of bows and shafts and infer how and with what instruments were made. For this purpose ethnographic pieces deposited in the Museum del Fin del Mundo (Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) were studied. Taxonomical and morphologic analyses were carried out on one of each wood arches and handles. The obtained results revealed, among other things, an unknown exploitation of raw materials (Ribesmagellanicus) in the region.
Keywords:
Bows and Arrows, Hunter-Gatherers, Archaeobotany, Tierra Del Fuego (Argentina)
Caruso Fermé, L. (2017). Arqueobotanica and Ethnography of the South American Extreme: Study of Pieces of Museum (Bows and Arrow). Revista Chilena De Antropología, (34). Retrieved from https://revistachilenahumanidades.uchile.cl/index.php/RCA/article/view/45151
