Fishtail Projectile Points from South America: The Brazilian Record
Open Access
- 1 January 2015
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in Archaeological Discovery
- Vol. 03 (03), 85-103
- https://doi.org/10.4236/ad.2015.33009
Abstract
The projectile points known as Fishtail or Fell represent a specific design associated with the earliest hunter-gatherers of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in South America. Brazil was traditionally considered as a marginal area of their distribution because in the past there were only a small number of findings known, often inadequately documented. In this paper we present a general and unified overview of the Brazilian record, including previously unpublished metric, technological and stylistic features. Also, we report on new findings of fishtail points in order to expand the amount of information currently available. Some issues related to these records are also evaluated by comparing them with data from the Uruguayan plains and the Argentinean pampas. The general picture that emerges after this analysis shows a growing record of fishtail projectile points in southern Brazil, demonstrating a significant presence of these early paleo-South American populations.Keywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hunter-gatherer occupation of south Brazilian Atlantic Forest: Paleoenvironment and archaeologyQuaternary International, 2012
- El Palto Phase (13800–9800 BP)Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2011
- Initial Occupation of the Pacific Coast of Chile during Late Pleistocene TimesCurrent Anthropology, 2007
- Research in the Middle Negro River Basin (Uruguay) and the Paleoindian Occupation of the Southern ConeCurrent Anthropology, 2007
- BIOGEOGRAPHIC AREAS AND TRANSITION ZONES OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS BASED ON PANBIOGEOGRAPHIC AND CLADISTIC ANALYSES OF THE ENTOMOFAUNAAnnual Review of Entomology, 2006
- Palaeoindian occupation of the Atacama Desert, northern ChileJournal of Quaternary Science, 2005
- Morphological Projectile Point Typology: Replication Experimentation and Technological AnalysisAmerican Antiquity, 1986
- Early Man in the AndesScientific American, 1963
- Evidence of a Fluted Point Tradition in EcuadorAmerican Antiquity, 1960
- Antiquity and Migrations of the Early Inhabitants of PatagoniaGeographical Review, 1938