Shark-tooth artefacts from middle Holocene Sulawesi

Although first identified 120 years ago, knowledge of the Toalean technoculture of Middle Holocene Sulawesi, Indonesia, remains limited. Previous research has emphasised the exploitation of largely terrestrial resources by hunter-gatherers on the island. The recent recovery of two modified tiger shark teeth from the Maros-Pangkep karsts of South Sulawesi, however, offers new insights. The authors combine use-wear and residue analyses with ethnographic and experimental data to indicate the use of these artefacts as hafted blades within conflict and ritual contexts, revealing hitherto undocumented technological and social practices among Toalean hunter-gatherers. The results suggest these artefacts constitute some of the earliest archaeological evidence for the use of shark teeth in composite weapons. Keywords: Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Toalean, weapons, residue analysis, use-wear, hafting
Introduction Between c. 8000 and 1500 years ago, the south-western peninsula of Sulawesi was home to the Toalean hunter-gatherers, a group identified from characteristic archaeological assemblages first excavated in 1902 [...]