The first clue sits in a museum drawer, not on a windswept Arctic shore. It is a whale bone, marked and shaped by human hands. Around it are more bones, more tools, and a coastal story that reaches back 5,000 years.<\/p>\n
New research from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona<\/a> and the Department of Prehistory of the UAB says Indigenous communities in southern Brazil hunted large whales far earlier than scholars once believed. The work places active whaling in Babitonga Bay, in Brazil\u2019s Santa Catarina state, about a thousand years before the earliest documented evidence from Arctic and North Pacific societies.<\/p>\n If you have ever pictured early whaling as a Northern Hemisphere breakthrough, this study asks you to redraw the map. The researchers argue these coastal communities built specialized tools, planned strategies, and social systems that made large-whale hunting possible long before the timeline most textbooks imply.<\/p>\n Location of known sambaqui sites in the region of Babitonga Bay, in Santa Catarina state (southern Brazil). (CREDIT: Nature Communications) Shell Mounds That Held a Hidden History<\/p>\n The evidence comes from sambaquis, monumental shell mounds built by Holocene societies along Brazil\u2019s coast. These sites preserved bones, tools, and burials across long spans of time. Many sambaquis around Babitonga Bay no longer exist today. Urban growth erased parts of that record.<\/p>\n That loss makes the museum collections even more important. The team studied hundreds of cetacean bones<\/a> and bone tools from the Babitonga region. The materials are housed at the Museu Arqueol\u00f3gico de Sambaqui de Joinville in Brazil. Researchers describe the collection as a rare archive, especially because so many original sites disappeared.<\/p>\n The study was led by ICTA-UAB researchers Krista McGrath and Andr\u00e9 Colonese, with an international team. Their work pulls together archaeology, lab science, and careful tool analysis to answer a basic question. Did people hunt whales, or only use stranded animals?<\/p>\n Marks, Tools, and Species Tell One Story<\/p>\n The team combined zooarchaeology, typological analysis, and molecular identification work called ZooMS. ZooMS helped identify cetacean remains even when bones were fragmented or reshaped into tools.<\/p>\n The results show a striking variety of marine life. The researchers identified remains of southern right whales, humpback whales, blue whales, sei whales, sperm whales, and dolphins. Many bones show clear cut marks linked to butchering.<\/p>\n Marine mammal remains from sambaqui sites in southern Brazil. (CREDIT: Nature Communications) <\/p>\n The study also documents large whale-bone harpoons<\/a>. The researchers describe some of these as among the largest found in South America. Tool size matters here, because it signals intent. It is hard to explain massive harpoon parts as casual reuse.<\/p>\n The evidence stacks up across contexts. The team points to the abundance of whale bones, their presence in funerary settings, and the inclusion of inshore species. Together, these details support active hunting rather than simple scavenging.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d says Krista McGrath, lead author of the study.<\/p>\n That quote lands with weight because it speaks to capability. It also speaks to coordination. Large-whale hunting is not a solo task. It requires planning, shared labor, and tools that work under pressure.<\/p>\n A New View of Sambaqui Society<\/p>\n For years, it was common to describe sambaqui peoples mainly as shellfish<\/a> collectors and fishers. This research argues that label is too small. The team says these coastal groups built a sophisticated maritime culture with specialized technology, collective cooperation, and ritual practices tied to large marine animals.<\/p>\n According to Andr\u00e9 Colonese, senior author of the study, \u201cThis research opens a new perspective on the social organization of the Sambaqui peoples. It represents a paradigm shift; we can now view these groups not only as shellfish collectors and fishers, but also as whalers.\u201d<\/p>\n Whale bone harpoon socket pieces. (CREDIT: Nature Communications) <\/p>\n Dione Bandeira, a Brazilian archaeologist with more than 20 years of experience working on sambaquis, links the practice to long-term stability on the coast. \u201cthe results reveal a practice that made a significant contribution to the long-term and dense presence of these societies along the Brazilian coast.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, whaling<\/a> was not a side note. The study frames it as a meaningful part of economy and identity. It also frames it as part of how communities stayed rooted in place.<\/p>\n The museum itself becomes part of this story. Ana Paula, director of the Museu Arqueol\u00f3gico de Sambaqui de Joinville, stresses the value of what has been protected. \u201cthe collections safeguarded at the Sambaqui Archaeological Museum in Joinville, especially the Guilherme Tib\u00fartius Collection, highlight the richness and vast potential of information on ancestral peoples that can still be explored in depth.\u201d<\/p>\n What Old Bones Reveal About Living Whales<\/p>\n The researchers say the findings also carry ecological value. The abundance of humpback whale remains suggests a broader historical distribution than the current main breeding areas off Brazil.<\/p>\n