Weapon systems and hunting techniques in the Eastern Pampa-Patagonia transition (Buenos Aires province, Argentina) during the late Holocene

The aim of this paper is to know those weapon systems and hunting techniques employed by the hunter-gatherer societies that inhabited the lower basin of the Colorado river (eastern Pampa-Patagonia transition) through the Late Holocene. The application of Shott<acute accent>s model (1997) on a sample from thirteen sites allowed us to propose the complementary use of darts and arrows during this period. Although different frequencies in the employment of each weapon system are observed through time, a remarkable supremacy of the bow and arrow (ca. 90%) was identified during the final Late Holocene. This data was evaluated considering the spatial location of the sites and the micro-environmental particularities of the study area ( e.g. , water availability, geomorphology and topography). As a result, the use of possible hunting techniques ( e.g. , ambush, pursuit, encounter) was suggested. Even though they would have been mainly related to large-sized preys (ungulates), they could also have been employed to obtain medium and small-sized animals ( e.g. , rodents and birds) in specific sectors of the lower basin of the Colorado river.