The rise of archery in the Andes dates back 5,000 years, earlier than previous research

When did archery appear in the Americas? And what have been the effects of this technology on society?

These questions have long been debated among anthropologists and archaeologists. But a study led by an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis, sheds light on this mystery. The work is published in International Quaternary.

Focusing on the Lake Titicaca basin in the Andes, anthropologists discovered, through analysis of 1,179 projectile points, that the rise of archery technology dates back about 5,000 years . Previous research has shown that archery in the Andes originated around 3,000 years ago.

The new research indicates that the adoption of bow and arrow technology coincided with both the expansion of exchange networks and the growing tendency of people to reside in villages.

“We believe our paper is groundbreaking because it gives us the opportunity to see how society changed in the Andes during ancient times by presenting a large number of artifacts from a wide region of South America” , said Luis Flores-Blanco, doctoral student in anthropology. and corresponding author of the article. “This is one of the first cases where Andean archaeologists studied social complexity through the quantitative analysis of stone tools.”

The researchers said the growing social complexity in the region is typically studied through the analysis of monumental architecture and ceramics rather than through the analysis of projectile points, which are historically linked to foraging communities .

Pooling 10,000 years of history

For the study, the team examined more than a thousand projectile points created over 10,000 years. Each projectile point came from the Lake Titicaca basin, more specifically from the Ilave and Ramis valleys, located in the southwest and northwest of the basin, respectively.

Flores-Blanco said it is one of the highest plateaus explored and conquered by man, with Lake Titicaca located at an elevation of 12,500 feet.

“In Titicaca, the Andeans accomplished a remarkable feat of domesticating plants like the potato, leaving behind a nutritious legacy that is still appreciated today,” he said. “On top of that, the Tiwanaku were one of the major Andean civilizations that built their vast territory here. Even the Inca Empire claimed this territory to be their mythical place of origin. Our study digs even deeper and goes to the roots of this Andean civilization.”

In their analysis, Flores-Blanco and his colleagues took into account each projectile’s date of origin, then measured its length, width, thickness and weight. They noticed that older projectile points – from the Early Archaic to the Late Archaic – were larger. A significant decrease in size occurred during the Terminal Archaic Period, approximately 5,000 years ago. The team hypothesized that this change in size indicates a shift in preference from spear throwing technology to bow and arrow technology, but without abandoning older technologies.

Additionally, the team compared their projectile data to archaeological data from the region regarding settlement sizes, availability of raw materials, and head trauma data. During the Terminal Archaic period, settlement sizes increased but the total number of settlement sites decreased, the researchers said. Additionally, residents lacked signs of social violence, even though they had access to exotic raw materials.

“Based on our finding, we can suggest that bow and arrow technology could have maintained and ensured adherence to emerging social norms that were crucial, such as those seen in the development of new social institutions, such as centers of obsidian exchange or between individuals establishing residence in expanding villages,” Flores-Blanco said.

Flores-Blanco co-authored the study with Lucero Cuellar, National University of San Marcos; Mark Aldenderfer, UC Merced; Charles Stanish, University of South Florida; and Randall Haas, University of Wyoming and formerly of UC Davis.