Experimentación con proyectiles de retoque plano y resultados de su análisis funcional

Abstract

A varied repertoire of buildings of monumental architecture, which are located in the upper and middle basin of the Ebro valley, have been interpreted as collective graves of diachronic use along the III millennium BC. Numerous arrowheads have been recovered in the filling deposits of some burial chambers. Most of them have been registered among the skeletal remains, but only very few of them were nailed in bones of certain buried individuals. The purpose of this work is to reconstruct its function as projectiles through experimentation and traceology, with the aim of approaching to the meaning of these weapons in funerary contexts, and taking the arrowheads collections from the dolmens of Aizibita and Charracadía (Salado valley, Navarre) as a reference. The experimental program developed has included the use of different morphologies of flint arrowheads of flat retouch which were propelled by bow. A session of shot has been carried out, during which the replicas were fired in the most adjusted way to the alleged prehistoric reality. A subsequent use-wear analysis has identified impact traces of macroscopic and microscopic nature. Issues relating to effectiveness, use and longevity of these lithic projectiles are addressed from the obtained results.