Archaeologist João Cascalheira, postdoctoral researcher at Interdisciplinary Center for Archeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB) from the University of Algarve, is the first winner of a project included in the program Ellen and Charles Steinmetz Endowment Fund for Archeology, which supports the innovative use of archaeological technologies.
The winning project focuses on the evolution of stone projectile tips during the Upper Paleolithic in southwestern Europe.
Long-range projectile technologies, such as the bow and arrow or the propeller, would have been an important factor in the expansion of Modern Humans from Africa to the Eurasian West. The stone tips used in this type of hunting weapons have traditionally been classified based on their form and functionality, allowing for significant changes in their morphology over time to be highlighted, but without revealing the reasons behind these changes and how it is that they benefited these communities in hunting practices.
This project will provide the ICarEHB with a 3D scanner, which will make it possible to build 3D models of archaeological pieces, which can be printed in three dimensions later on.
“This new technology will also allow computer analyzes to be carried out, making it possible to visualize characteristics of the parts that are not visible to the naked eye”, explains UAlg.
In a first phase, the project will allow the creation of a digital database of three-dimensional models of the various types of arrowheads that will have existed for about 30 to 10 years, which will become available online, free of cost.
In a second phase, the 3D models will be used to perform tests on ballistic performance, through the use of fluid dynamics software. These analyzes will allow the investigator to build a ballistic profile for each of the types of points and thus explore the potential differences, advantages and disadvantages of these elements as hunting projectiles.
Thus, the main objective of the analysis will be to try to better understand why certain morphologies or technologies have been preferentially chosen over time.
This project is funded by Archaeological Institute of America (EIA).
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