The Chaîne Opératoire of the Flint Axes of the Myky Indigenous Tribe (Mato Grosso, Brazil)

Abstract

This paper presents the results of ethnoarchaeological research carried out among the Myky tribal group in Brazil. The intention of this research is to document the chaîne opératoire of the flint axes used by this indigenous group in the past. The Myky were first contacted in 1971, and knapped and used different stone tools in their daily life up until that point. This paper explores some of the reasons why the Myky used flint axes and how this allowed them to develop a horticultural economy without having a sedentary way of life. The principal value of this research is to document a specific element of this group's cultural heritage, as well as its past material culture. These are critical aspects to document, since they are likely to disappear in the space of one or two generations. Presented here are a unique set of observations of stone tool manufacture activities by a group that has not been previously studied.

Keywords:

• Lithic ethnoarchaeology
• flint axes
• chaîne opératoire
• Myky people
• Brazil

Acknowledgements

My sincere thanks to the Myky people for all their hospitality and contributions to this study, and for their involvement in the fieldwork research. Thanks also to the members of the Conselho Indigenista Missionario (CIMI), Elizabeth Aracy Rondon Amarante, Alan Cesar Bortoleto, and Thomáz de Aquino Lisboa, who not only helped me during my stay in the Menkü area but also provided me with much useful information. I am grateful to the Operação Amazonia Nativa and the Rondon Museum, both in Cuiabá, Brazil, for facilitating my study of the Myky and Enawenê-Nawê material culture they hold. The support of the Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI) made this fieldwork possible.

I would like to thank John Rissetto from the University of New Mexico and Sara and Neil Roberts for reading early versions of this article. In addition, the help offered by Grant McCall and three anonymous reviewers has proved crucial to the publishing of this paper. Finally, I appreciate the academic support given to me by the lecturers Almudena Hernando Gonzalo and Jesús Adánez Pavón, both from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

ORCiD

Carlos Fernández González http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8855-7529