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For decades, archaeologists assumed that organized whale hunting began in the Arctic. But evidence preserved in museum collections along Brazil’s southern coast points to a much older origin.
Along Babitonga Bay in Santa Catarina, Indigenous coastal groups appear to have hunted large whales deliberately about 5,000 years ago.
That pushes organized whaling back roughly a thousand years and reshapes how researchers understand early coastal life in South America.
The clues come from whale bones and harpoon parts stored in a regional archaeological museum.
Researchers at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) reexamined the material, looking for signs that whales were actively hunted rather than scavenged.
Led by Dr. Krista McGrath, the team combined artifact analysis with modern protein techniques to reconstruct how people once hunted – and lived alongside – some of the ocean’s largest animals.
Reconstructing whales from fragments
Older digs along Babitonga Bay pulled up many whale bones, but much of the coastline has since changed or vanished.
Many artifacts were collected during mid-20th-century rescue efforts and later cataloged in museums, leaving researchers to rely on labels, notebooks, and older radiocarbon dates to build a working timeline. Because some objects lack precise excavation contexts, fine-grained comparisons remain limited.
To overcome those gaps, the team turned to ZooMS, a protein-based method that reads collagen patterns preserved in bone.
Collagen survives long after other tissues decay, allowing ZooMS to distinguish species even from small, worn fragments.
The analysis identified southern right whales, humpbacks, and dolphins, while blue, sei, and sperm whales appeared only as single samples.
That mix helped researchers argue the bones reflect targeted hunting of nearby whales, not just animals that drifted ashore by chance.
Marks of active whale hunting
Some of the clearest evidence comes from long whale-bone pieces shaped to join a main shaft and point. Several foreshafts – front shaft segments that hold a point – measured about 10 to 20 inches and carried grooves.
Beveled tips and cross grooves suggest barbs were tied on with fiber, and two pieces were directly dated.
Because wood and fiber decay quickly in humid coastal soils, these durable bone components may be the only surviving traces of complete hunting weapons.
Cut marks on many whale bones reinforce that interpretation. Stone tools leave crisp incisions, and researchers found those scars exactly where meat and blubber would be removed.
The sheer number of whale remains also challenges the idea that organized whaling began only in the Arctic.
Harpoon parts and whale bones appearing in burial contexts suggest the hunt carried social meaning beyond simple food acquisition.
“The data reveals that these communities had the knowledge, tools, and specialized strategies to hunt large whales thousands of years earlier than we had previously assumed,” said Dr. McGrath.
Whale hunting shaped society
Along this coast, sambaquis, large shell mounds built by coastal families, became hubs for work, ceremony, and burial.
Harvesting a whale yields huge amounts of meat and oil, which could feed people and fuel lamps for weeks.
When those resources were shared, they supported dense settlements and helped maintain the long-term construction of the mounds.
Archaeologists caution that only some communities may have hunted whales, so the practice might not define every site.
Old bones guide conservation
Humpback remains hinted that breeding whales once used waters farther south than modern maps usually show.
Later surveys around the Abrolhos Bank tracked breeding-season groups, and scientists have discussed the reoccupation of past areas.
A commercial whaling moratorium began in the 1985/1986 season, after industry drove many stocks steeply down.
If a species returns, managers can compare new sightings with older ranges when setting protections for busy coastal waters.
Right whales fit the evidence
Southern right whales, Eubalaena australis, were the most common species identified, and their behavior makes coastal hunting more plausible.
Seasonal migration carries southern right whales between feeding and breeding grounds, and females often calve in sheltered, shallow waters.
Slow swimming close to shore, plus floating more easily after death, would have helped hunters retrieve a carcass once it was killed.
Faster offshore whales appear rarely in the collection, which hints that some finds still came from strandings or drift.
A longer history of whaling
The archaeological record offers strong clues, but it cannot capture every whale hunt. Boats, ropes, and floats almost never survive, and spear points embedded in bones – a dramatic marker seen at some northern sites – are rare.
Museum collections also skew the picture, because specimens were often selected for size and visibility, leaving smaller bones and soft tissues underrepresented.
Even so, the combination of bone tools, protein identifications, and cut marks shows that some Brazilian coastal groups organized whale hunts far earlier than expected.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
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