Changes in Projectile design and size of prey reveals the role of Fishtail points in megafauna hunting in South America

Fishtail are the earliest widespread projectile point in South America and share chronology and techno-morphological features with Clovis, the oldest north American projectile type; both were temporally associated with the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions. Although the elusive direct evidence of human exploitation of megafauna in South America had kept Fishtail out of the extinction’s debate, a recent paper proposed that successful dispersal of Fishtail points from 12.9 k years BP contributed to the extinctions. If so, and if humans came into South America around 15.5 k years BP but only affected megafauna 2.5 k years later, after the emergence of Fishtail points, this technology must be distinctly different from other early point types in terms of distribution and functional properties. In this paper evaluate the relationship between changes in projectile point technology and body mass of potential megafaunal prey and show that Fishtail were strongly linked to the largest extinct megafaunal species.