Bowhunting during the Neolithic cohesion could help … – PanamaOn

Bowhunting during the Neolithic could have been one of the pillars of unity as a group of primitive human societies. This is one of the main conclusions reached by a team of Spanish archaeologists of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), which has analyzed the arches found in the Neolithic site of La Draga (Banyoles, Girona ) during an excavation campaign in 2012.

The prestige was related more to the distribution that was made of the dam with the gloom of
animal “Comparing the remains scarce and abundant wildlife hunting gear found at the site, we conclude that the power was not the main objective of developing hunting objects. The Neolithic archery could have had an important social and community function, as well as providing social prestige to physical activity and individuals involved in it, “explains CSIC researcher Xavier Terradas, Mila and Fontanals Institution.

According to the study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, prestige was linked in some cases the type of animal hunted; in others, it is related more to the distribution that was made of the dam with the folding of the animal itself.

“The larger prey, such as collective redress, may have played a role, even in cases in which constituted a timely appeal or sporadic “adds Raquel Piqué, UAB researcher and lead author of the study.

only archaeological evidence

Among the material studied there are three yew bows discovered in La Draga in 2012. The analysis confirms the pieces estimated between 7,400 and 7,200 years old, the oldest of its kind found in Europe so far.

Analysis confirms dated between 7400 and 7200 years, the oldest arches found in Europe
The only one of the three arches fully preserved measures 1.08 meters in length, maximum width 25 mm and 15 mm thick. It is smaller than the rest of Neolithic arches found elsewhere in Europe. However, the dimensions of the conserved parts of the other two arches make La Draga researchers assume that would have a larger, similar to that of Europeans.

The arches recovered from La Draga are evidence only archaeological to assess the social role of hunting in the first peasant societies, and to address crucial issues such as economic specialization, division of labor and the nature of access to resources, the study concludes.

The scientific project in the archaeological site of La Draga was conducted jointly from UAB, CSIC, the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia and the Regional Archaeological Museum of Banyoles

. Source: Information and Scientific News SINC