Atlatl use equalizes female and male projectile weapon velocity

Bebber, Michelle R.; Buchanan, Briggs; Eren, Metin I.; Walker, Robert; Zirkle, Dexter

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-40451-8

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…That large-mammal hunting may have been a gender-neutral activity in the Andean highlands 9000 years ago, and ostensibly elsewhere in the early Americas 12 , raises the question of why the archaeological pattern differs from the ethnographic pattern where large-mammal hunting is the purview of males. A recent experimental study shows that atlatl technology may encourage broad participation in hunting activities 3 . Forager ethnography furthermore identifies two important socioecological contexts that would have favored widespread participation in large-mammal hunting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forager ethnography suggests that large-mammal hunting was the purview of males 6 , but archaeologists have long cautioned against projection of recent forager behavior onto the past 7 . Empirical and theoretical observations identify several socio-ecological conditions that would tend to favor hunting by female individuals including small-animal hunting as a risk-mitigation strategy 8 , communal hunting of large mammals 9 , geographic proximity of large mammals to camp 10 , the use of atlatl technology 3 , and heavy economic dependence on large mammals 11 . The in situ discovery of seven projectile points interred with an adult female 9000 years ago in the Andean highland site of Wilamaya Patjxa (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lithic usewear confirms the function of Wilamaya Patjxa projectile points

Smallwood,

Haas,

Jennings

2023

Sci Rep

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Approximately 9000 years ago at the Andean highland site of Wilamaya Patjxa, forager communities interred female and male individuals with projectile points, suggesting that large-mammal hunting may have been a gender neutral activity among that community. We report a lithic usewear analysis, which confirms that the ostensible projectile points were indeed used as projectile points. The data further reveal evidence of cutting and hide scraping consistent with animal processing activities. A new radiocarbon date shows that the female and male individuals were contemporaries, or nearly so, sometime between 9.0 and 8.7 cal. ka. These findings support a model of early subsistence practices in which both female and male individuals at Wilamaya Patjxa hunted large mammals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithic usewear confirms the function of Wilamaya Patjxa projectile points

Smallwood,

Haas,

Jennings

2023

Sci Rep

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“…These claims have been widely reported in the press, e.g. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25], and are cited in several scientific articles [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Woman the Hunter? Female foragers sometimes hunt, yet gendered divisions of labor are real

Venkataraman,

Hoffman,

Hames

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Gendered divisions of labor are a feature of every known contemporary hunter-gatherer (forager) society. While gender roles are certainly flexible, and prominent and well-studied cases of female hunting do exist, it is more often men who hunt. A new study (Anderson et al., 2023) surveyed ethnographically known foragers and found that women hunt in 79% of foraging societies, with big-game hunting occurring in 33%. Based on this single type of labor, which is one among dozens performed in foraging societies, the authors question the existence of gendered division of labor altogether. As a diverse group of hunter-gatherer experts, we find that claims that foraging societies lack or have weak gendered divisions of labor are contradicted by empirical evidence. We conducted an in-depth examination of Anderson et al. (2023) data and methods, finding evidence of sample selection bias and numerous coding errors undermining the paper’s conclusions. Anderson et al. (2023) have started a useful dialogue to ameliorate the popular misconception that women never hunt. However, their analysis does not contradict the wide body of empirical evidence for gendered divisions of labor in foraging societies. Furthermore, a myopic focus on hunting diminishes the value of contributions that take different forms and downplays the trade-offs foragers of both sexes routinely face. We caution against ethnographic revisionism that projects Westernized conceptions of labor and its value onto foraging societies.

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Biomechanics in anthropology

Berthaume,

Elton

2024

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Biomechanics is the set of tools that explain organismal movement and mechanical behavior and links the organism to the physicality of the world. As such, biomechanics can relate behaviors and culture to the physicality of the organism. Scale is critical to biomechanical analyses, as the constitutive equations that matter differ depending on the scale of the question. Within anthropology, biomechanics has had a wide range of applications, from understanding how we and other primates evolved to understanding the effects of technologies, such as the atlatl, and the relationship between identity, society, culture, and medical interventions, such as prosthetics. Like any other model, there is great utility in biomechanical models, but models should be used primarily for hypothesis testing and not data generation except in the rare case where models can be robustly validated. The application of biomechanics within anthropology has been extensive, and holds great potential for the future.

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Atlatl use equalizes female and male projectile weapon velocity

Cited by 13 publications

References 58 publications

Lithic usewear confirms the function of Wilamaya Patjxa projectile points

Lithic usewear confirms the function of Wilamaya Patjxa projectile points

Woman the Hunter? Female foragers sometimes hunt, yet gendered divisions of labor are real

Biomechanics in anthropology

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