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Shell fishhooks of the California coast

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... Distintos taxones malacológicos fueron utilizados para la confección de anzuelos (Matos y Ravinés 1981;Fujita et al. 2016;O'Connor et al. 2011O'Connor et al. , 2017Strudwick 1985, entre otros), teniendo en común que las especies escogidas contaban con microestructura nacarada, como aquellas pertenecientes a las familias Haliotidae (abalones), Mytilidae (choros), Ostreidae (ostras) y Turbinidae (caracoles), entre otras (Fujita et al. 2016;Méry et al. 2008;Robinson 1942;Strudwick 1984), dada su dureza y resistencia (Lucero 2004). ...
... Registros etnográficos del siglo XVI llevados a cabo entre los grupos Chumash de California, han dejado en evidencia la preferencia por parte de las culturas ancestrales hacia el uso de los anzuelos de concha por sobre las tecnologías traídas desde Europa (Robinson 1942), dando cuenta de una larga tradición pescadora con estos instrumentos (Robinson 1942;McKenzie 2007;Strudwick 1984). De esta forma, se constata que la tecnología de pesca en concha de molusco ha sido utilizada de forma generalizada desde la prehistoria en América (~11.000 ...
... Registros etnográficos del siglo XVI llevados a cabo entre los grupos Chumash de California, han dejado en evidencia la preferencia por parte de las culturas ancestrales hacia el uso de los anzuelos de concha por sobre las tecnologías traídas desde Europa (Robinson 1942), dando cuenta de una larga tradición pescadora con estos instrumentos (Robinson 1942;McKenzie 2007;Strudwick 1984). De esta forma, se constata que la tecnología de pesca en concha de molusco ha sido utilizada de forma generalizada desde la prehistoria en América (~11.000 ...
Thesis
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Este estudio presenta una evaluación sobre la variabilidad morfológica de anzuelos de concha de Choromytilus chorus (C. chorus) provenientes de capas estratigráficas datadas entre los años 8.000 y 4.000 antes del presente (a.p.) de seis sitios arqueológicos situados en la zona de Paposo-Taltal, II Región de Antofagasta, Chile. Para ello se realizaron análisis de morfometría geométrica con objeto de evaluar si se dieron o no cambios morfológicos en los anzuelos, a través del tiempo y espacio. Finalmente, con el fin de explorar la funcionalidad de estos instrumentos, se incluye información contextual de las capas estratigráficas de procedencia de las piezas, para contrastar la morfología de los anzuelos con otros indicadores ligados a la pesca.
... The circular single-piece shell fishhook (Fig. 1A) was a key subsistence technology for the native inhabitants of California's Channel Islands, on par with the water-bottle basket and the plank canoe (Arnold, 2001;Rick et al., 2002;McKenzie, 2007;Gamble, 2008). Compared to earlier bone gorges and composite hooks (Rick et al., 2002) the circular shell hook captures fish through mouth rather than gut hooking (Robinson, 1942;Anell, 1955;Tartaglia, 1976;McKenzie, 2007); secures the fish more effectively because of hook morphology (Nordhoff, 1930;Anell, 1955;Tartaglia, 1976); captures the fish passively instead of via active setting of the hook (Nordhoff, 1930); and decreases accidental snagging and loss of fishing equipment due to its characteristic incurvature (Robinson, 1942). Thus, the circular shell hook allowed the Channel Islanders to increase angling in kelp beds and rocky reefs and thereby more efficiently exploit the rich marine resources in the California Channel (Kennett, 2005;Rick et al., 2005). ...
... The circular single-piece shell fishhook (Fig. 1A) was a key subsistence technology for the native inhabitants of California's Channel Islands, on par with the water-bottle basket and the plank canoe (Arnold, 2001;Rick et al., 2002;McKenzie, 2007;Gamble, 2008). Compared to earlier bone gorges and composite hooks (Rick et al., 2002) the circular shell hook captures fish through mouth rather than gut hooking (Robinson, 1942;Anell, 1955;Tartaglia, 1976;McKenzie, 2007); secures the fish more effectively because of hook morphology (Nordhoff, 1930;Anell, 1955;Tartaglia, 1976); captures the fish passively instead of via active setting of the hook (Nordhoff, 1930); and decreases accidental snagging and loss of fishing equipment due to its characteristic incurvature (Robinson, 1942). Thus, the circular shell hook allowed the Channel Islanders to increase angling in kelp beds and rocky reefs and thereby more efficiently exploit the rich marine resources in the California Channel (Kennett, 2005;Rick et al., 2005). ...
... Since the onset of Channel Island archaeology there have been questions about how the shell hooks might have been produced (Schumacher, 1875). Various theories surrounding fishhook manufacture have been proposed (Robinson, 1942;Tartaglia, 1976;Strudwick, 1986), but few of them have actually been tested (Arnold and Graesch, 2001;Kendig et al., 2010;Smith et al., 2015). We have previously used replicative experiments (Kendig et al., 2010) and chemical residue analysis (Smith et al., 2015) to show that the shell hook manufacture involved using flat pieces of indurated sandstone as filing/ abrading tools. ...
... UU., se ha registrado una gran cantidad y diversidad de anzuelos de concha, pero con fechas mucho más tardías alrededor de 2.500 años AP. Estos anzuelos se diferencian del resto por presentar pequeñas acanaladuras o protuberancias en el vástago que permiten asegurar de manera más efectiva el amarre de la lienza [15,16]. ...
... Similarly, in the Channel Islands, California, USA, a large quantity, and diversity of shell fishhooks have been documented, but with much later dates around 2,500 years BP. Channel Island´s hooks stand out from the rest due to the presence of small grooves or protuberances on the shank that allow for a more secure fastening of the fishing line [15,16]. ...
Book
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A photographic catalog about archaeological shell fishhooks from the northern coast of Chile. It shows part of the research done on one of the fishing artefacts made by fisher communities between 8,000 and 4,000 years ago, along the Pacific coast of South America. This scientific outreach book (in English and Spanish) includes pictures of a selected number of fishhooks made on mussel shells (Choromytilus chorus) and preserved in museum collections of Chile. I also provide a quick glance at the study of manufacture traces of the hooks, and the ethno-archaeological work done about manufacturing process and experimental fishing.
... The use of rhizoliths could, however, be as old as the circular single-piece shell fishhook itself, which first appeared on the Channel Islands around 3,000 years ago as an important complement to the earlier composite bone fishhooks and bone gorges (Rick et al., 2002). The single piece hook captures fish via mouth rather than gut hooking (Robinson, 1942), and its characteristic incurvature (Figs. 8 and S8) makes it less likely to snag when angling in kelp beds and rocky reefs (Robinson, 1942), which allowed the Channel Islanders to add larger quantities of fish from such habitats to their diet. In this view, the findings presented here expand our understanding of how the Nicoleño used local materials and technological innovation to exploit the rich marine resources around the California Channel Islands (Rick et al., 2005). ...
... The use of rhizoliths could, however, be as old as the circular single-piece shell fishhook itself, which first appeared on the Channel Islands around 3,000 years ago as an important complement to the earlier composite bone fishhooks and bone gorges (Rick et al., 2002). The single piece hook captures fish via mouth rather than gut hooking (Robinson, 1942), and its characteristic incurvature (Figs. 8 and S8) makes it less likely to snag when angling in kelp beds and rocky reefs (Robinson, 1942), which allowed the Channel Islanders to add larger quantities of fish from such habitats to their diet. In this view, the findings presented here expand our understanding of how the Nicoleño used local materials and technological innovation to exploit the rich marine resources around the California Channel Islands (Rick et al., 2005). ...
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Chemical analysis of archeological objects can provide important clues about their purpose and function. In this study, we used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and chemical spectroscopy (SEM-EDS and XRD) to identify a white residue present on cylindrical rhizoliths from a component at an archaeological site (CA-SNI-25) on San Nicolas Island, California, dated ca. AD 1300 to 1700. The residue was found to consist of biogenic calcite and aragonite particles, different in composition and morphology from the CaCO3 particles in the rhizoliths, but identical to marine shell material. These results, together with observations of surface micro-wear patterning on fishhooks and rhizoliths, replicative experiments, in situ spatial analysis, and other archaeological evidence, show that rhizoliths were used as files in a larger tool kit for crafting shell fishhooks. Our findings shed new light on the technological innovations devised by Native Americans to exploit the rich marine resources surrounding the Channel Islands, and provide the first analytical evidence for the use of rhizoliths as a production tool.
... The tools used to make the shell artifacts found at Morro Colorado and Zapatero are mostly unknown, except for the presence of stone files at each site which have been related to the action of cutting C. chorus shells (Figueroa et al. 2013). Studies done in California on shell fishhooks have proposed slender stone files as the tools used to "cut" the shell, stone drills to make central holes, and sandstone to sand shell edges (Kendig et al. 2010;McKenzie 2007;Robinson 1942). ...
... This morphological difference has chronological implications, since the circular fishhooks with shanks are usually later and appear in the region after 6500 cal BP (Llagostera 2005). These differences could also be related to the capture of certain fish species or the exploitation of different habitats (e.g., McKenzie 2007;Robinson 1942;Smith et al. 2015), in which case, MSFT at each site should be related to their specific archaeological fish assemblage. However, the amount of fish remains at Zapatero and Morro Colorado sites is similar. ...
Article
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Shell fishhooks have been found in several sites along the Pacific Coast of the Americas, but little is known about prehistoric workshops of these tools and the socio-economic context of their production and distribution. The present study provides new data about the production of mussel (Choromytilus chorus) shell fishing tools (MSFT) at Morro Colorado and Zapatero, two Middle Holocene sites on the coast of Taltal, northern Chile. The MSFT assemblages of the two sites suggest the existence of workshop areas and a specialized manufacture of C. chorus fishhooks associated with an increased dependence on fishing in local subsistence practices. Abundance and type of mussel shell fishing artifacts, preforms, and shell debris at these two shell midden sites are discussed to better understand Prehispanic workshops, the techniques used to work C. chorus shells, and the possible relationship between raw material acquisition, technological change and overall transformations in subsistence practices and levels of social complexity among Middle Holocene coastal groups along the northern coast of Chile.
... Usually represented in archaeological sites by only single or very small numbers of finished hooks or near-finished preforms, large assemblages of fishhooks-and especially those which include examples in various stages of manufacture-are exceedingly rare for contexts dating to before the mid-Holocene. Owing to the nature of these limited finds in early contexts, researchers have had to bring together artifacts from numerous sites within a region-or even across regions-in order to understand the manufacture and use of marine shell fishhook technology for most of the human past (e.g., Fujita 2014;Robinson 1942;Rosenthal 1986;Schumacher 1877). ...
Article
While fishhook technology is currently known to date back to ca. 22,000 cal. BP, almost all Pleistocene-aged assemblages consist of less than 10 artifacts, restricting the ability of archaeologists to reconstruct the technology. Excavations at Makpan Cave on Alor Island (Indonesia), however, has recovered an extensive assemblage of marine shell material culture, including an unprecedented number of fishhook artifacts. Here we describe 214 jabbing and rotating fishhooks made from marine gastropods, along with several possible lures, coral tools associated with their construction, and coral sinkers. Recovery of debitage as well as fish-hooks in all stages of manufacture, from blanks through to fully finished examples, allow for a complete chaîne op eratoire to be constructed for both main forms (jabbing and rotating) of shell fishhooks. The assemblage indicates a wide-ranging approach to marine resource extraction at Makpan over the past 15,000 years with fishhooks ranging between around 1 cm to over 5 cm long all occurring during the same period. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Futuros fechados directos o en materiales asociados a estos anzuelos permitirán evaluar su asignación cronológica y enriquecer la discusión. Para interpretar los cambios morfológicos observados, se tomaron como referencia algunos estudios realizados en Polinesia y California sobre la relación entre variación morfológica y funcional de anzuelos de concha (Allen 1996;Barahona y Henríquez 2007;Johannes 1981;King 1990;Morales 2008;Pfeffer 2001;Robinson 1942;Strudwick 1985). En el trabajo experimental realizado por McKenzie (2007), la acción de retoque generó una disminución del tamaño de las puntas del anzuelo y la subsecuente ampliación de la abertura. ...
Article
A través de la morfometría geométrica, este estudio explora la influencia del contexto cronológico y de procedencia en la variabilidad morfológica de 75 anzuelos de concha de Choromytilus chorus provenientes de siete sitios arqueológicos de la comuna de Taltal, en la costa sur del Desierto de Atacama, Chile. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas en las formas de los anzuelos provenientes de distintos sitios y períodos. El rasgo que explica el mayor porcentaje de variación morfológica es el largo de una de las puntas, seguido por la abertura del anzuelo. Se identifican tres momentos clave en la evolución morfológica de estos artefactos. Entre 8500 y 7500 cal aP aparecen los primeros anzuelos, predominantemente sin vástago y de abertura amplia pero variable. De 7500 cal aP en adelante, la tecnología prolifera y se diversifica: los anzuelos sin vástago y con abertura amplia siguen predominando, pero formas con vástago y abertura media también están presentes en el kit de pesca. Finalmente, entre 5500 y 4500 cal aP el número de anzuelos disminuye, desaparecen las formas circulares y se mantienen las formas con vástago, pero con abertura más estrecha. El caso de estudio de Taltal contribuye a enriquecer el conocimiento sobre la tecnología del anzuelo en concha a lo largo del Pacífico.
... Available from animals practically everywhere, all year round, non-disposable Needs cutting and scraping tools, takes weeks to soak (Robinson, 1942), hours to cut and about a day to carve with stone tools (Sidéra, 2011)-manufacturing is much complicated by anisotropy, hygroscopy-extensive expertise needed ...
Article
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The current scientific research into music has been skewed in favor of its frequency-based variety prevalent in the West. However, its alternative, the timbre-based music, native to the Northeast, seems to represent an earlier evolutionary development. Western researchers commonly interpret such timbre-based music as a “defective” rendition of frequency-based music. They often regard pitch as the structural criterion that distinguishes music from non-music. We would like to present evidence to the contrary—in support of the existence of indigenous music systems based on the discretization and patterning of aspects of timbre, rather than pitch. Such music is distinguished by its personal orientation: for oneself and/or for close relatives/friends. Collective music-making is rare and exceptional because of the deeply rooted institute of “personal song” - a system of personal identification through individualized patterns of rhythm, timbre, and pitch contour—whose sound enables the recognition of a particular individual.
... California archaeologists have spent considerable time and effort in determining a functional interpretation for the various fishhooks recovered from coastal sites (cf. Crain 1966;Heizer 1949;Robinson 1942;Strudwick 1985Strudwick , 1986Tartaglia 1976). They have diligently sought specific relationships between material, structural, and mechanical principals of various hook designs. ...
Article
Prehistoric marine fishing adaptations were limited by both environmental and technological factors which restrained the maritime cultures from expanding into all available fishing resources. For the Southern California prehistoric fishery, the strength of the natural plant fibers in manufactured fishing line was likely a major limiting factor. To test this hypothesis analyses of the characteristics related to catching available fish species, as well as an evaluation of the strength of naturally occurring plant fiber lines, were conducted. RESUMEN.-Las adaptaciones durante la pesca prehistorica fueron limitadas por dos fadores, ambiental y tecnologico, por 10 que se restringieron las culturas mar'itimas y no se extendieron los recursos de la pesca. Con respecto a la pesca prehistorica en el Sur de California la fuerza de las plantas fibrosas que se usaban para manufacturar las lineas que se adaptaban a las canas de pescar fueron el primordial factor para limitar la pesca. Se conducieron anaIisis y demonstraciones para analizar las especies de peces, as! como la evaluacion y la fuerza natural de estas plantas fibrosas. RESUME.-Certains facteurs ressortissant de I'environnement et de la technologie ont impose des restrictions a l'adaptation prehistorique a la peche marine, empechant les cultures maritimes d'exploiter toutes les ressources disponibles dans Ie domaine de la peche. En Californie du Sud a l'epoque prehistorique l'un des problemes majeurs pour les activites de peche a probablement ete Ie degre de solidite des fibres vegetables naturelles servant a fabriquer des cannes a peche. La presente etude part de cette hypothese et comprend une analyse de la facon d'attraper les diverses especes de poisson qui se trouvaient la, ainsi qu'une evaluation de la resistance des cannes a peche faites de fibres naturelles.
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A very popular, yet barely researched, musical instrument is the Jew's Harp (JH). Its earliest archaeological occurrences date back to the early Bronze Age, but its simplest constructions, made of tree twigs and bark, along with its cross-cultural connection to shamanic beliefs and doxological status, suggest its prehistoric use. I outline a possible scenario in which the spread of the cult of ancestral plants across this vast region, from Altai to Sakhalin, and the cult of the "singing mask" of the Tuva-Amur area may have given special importance to musicking on the JH, initiating its spread along pastoralism to the neighboring regions. The influence of the ancient "talking JH" tradition would explain vowel harmony found in most languages of the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic families of the Transeurasian (aka "Altaic") family, as well as in neighboring Uralic languages - all of which are spoken by peoples that regularly use the JH.
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Reinman's misinterpretation (in his article in this issue) of Landberg's (1966) remarks about the aboriginal use of the curved, single-piece shell fishhook is corrected, and the unlikelihood that this type of hook was used by fishermen to catch tunas is further emphasized. Conclusive evidence that tunas transport fishhooks is introduced for representatives of one species, bluefin, in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans. Taking this evidence into consideration, the tentative nature of the tuna-tagging evidence is again noted, and it is stressed that considerably more data will be required to substantiate presently proposed models of migration for tuna populations before incontrovertible geographical relationships can be drawn between Oceania and other areas. Independent invention as an alternative to the hypothesis of hook transportation by fish as an explanation for the distribution of the curved, single-piece shell fishhook is examined with reference to Crain's (1966) article on the mechanical aspects of this hook type. It is concluded that independent invention, as suggested earlier (Landberg 1966), probably accounts for part of the distribution of the curved, single-piece shell fishhook and that transportation of this type of hook by migratory fish would have been only a complicating factor in its geographical distribution.
Article
During the Late Holocene, a number of new technologies (single-piece fishhooks, toggling harpoons, plank canoes, etc.) are thought to have significantly enhanced the fishing capabilities of California coastal peoples. The single-piece fishhook, perhaps the most common of these artifacts, appears to correlate with a regional intensification of marine fishing and a period of increased population growth. Determining the antiquity of the single-piece fishhook has been complicated by a variety of taphonomic and methodological factors. Consequently, age estimates for the initial appearance of these artifacts range from about 5500 to 2500 cal- bp. To help clarify the chronology of this important artifact type, we had eight of the potentially oldest shell fishhooks in the region AMS radiocarbon dated. These dates indicate that the single-piece shell fishhook appeared throughout the southern and central California Coast by at least 2500 cal- bp. Our data illustrate the utility of direct AMS dating of individual artifacts as a method of documenting site disturbances (bioturbation, historical land use, etc.) and refining artifact, site, and regional chronologies.
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