Throw Us a Bone Now, Won't You? Exploring the Feasibility of Plant-Based Projectile Impact Mark Identification on Bone Assemblages in the Philippines

Dante Ricardo N. Manipon* and Andrea Dominique Cosalan

Archaeological discourse on plant-based projectiles (e.g., wooden and/or bamboo spears and/or darts) lag behind research on stone tool-tipped or osseous projectile technologies despite ethnographic documentation of these wooden and bamboo projectiles for hunting activities or weaponry. In the same way, projectile impact marks (PIMs) and/or trauma have received less attention in bone surface modification or taphonomy studies than butchery marks presumably due to a dominant interest in carcass processing, paucity in PIM differentiation and incidence studies, and issues with equifinality. With the use of actualistic methods, this study explores the feasibility of detecting and differentiating PIMs from other common bone surface modifications such as percussion marks, chop marks, among others, as well as investigating any merit in their potential as indirect indicators of wooden or bamboo-based projectiles utilization within Philippine archaeological assemblages. Insights from this can also therefore contribute to the discourse on lithic technology in the Philippines in addressing perceived expediency in lithic behaviour commonly found throughout Philippine sites.