PROJECTILE Point Stem Repairs. Some Examples from Southeastern South America

ABSTRACT

This study explores the reworking of projectile point stems by hunter-gatherers in southeastern South America. Techniques employed to rework stems included pressure and percussion flaking and, eventually, light abrasion of fractured sections, methods that were applied opportunistically to resolve various types of stem fractures. Although the local literature has often overlooked the presence of reworked stems, it appears that point rebasing was a relatively common practice in the region, especially for points made from microcrystalline rocks and other highly silicified rocks. The reworking of points was likely carried out to preserve high-quality raw materials and to reduce the cost of manufacturing new points. Although the recognition of reworked stems can be challenging, it is a crucial task for subsequent morphometric and stylistic analysis. This allows for the identification of one of the sources of point variation thus avoiding an artificial increase in the variability of the original designs.

KEYWORDS:

• Projectil points
• stem repairs
• lithic technology
• South America

Acknowledgements

Many people have assisted to analyze the coleccions: Idemar Gizzho (Museo ao Ar Livre Princesa Isabel Orleans, Orleans city, Santa Catarina State); Maria Vizencainer (Museu Paleontológico, Arqueológico e Histórico Prefeito Bertoldo Jacobsen, Taio city, Santa Catarina State); Museu de Arqueologia Lomba Alta (Alfredo Wagner, Santa Catarina State); Caroline Liebl de Bastos (Museu do Homem do Sambaqui, Florianópolis city, Santa Catarina State); Aline Bertoncello (Centro de Memória do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Chapecó city, Santa Catarina); Antonio Carlos Soares (Museu Arqueológico do Rio Grande do Sul, Taquara city, Rio Grande do Sul); Marlene Mossman (Museu Almiro Theobaldo Muller, Itapiranga, Santa Catarina), and Hugo Gemmer (Museu Muicipal Pastor Karl Raminnger, Mondaí, Santa Catarina). We also like to thank the Stenssenler, Tetzlaff, Monsted, Gherardi, Amarillo, Tafernaberry, Unternaher, Buchinger, and Burgin families, who opened the doors of their homes, and allowed us to analyze their collections. To the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), process 305609/2022-0.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.