The history of whale hunting is much older—and more global—than researchers once believed.
A new study shows that Indigenous communities living along the southern coast of Brazil were hunting large whales around 5,000 years ago, pushing the origins of this complex maritime practice back by at least a thousand years.
The research was led by scientists from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, together with the university’s Department of Prehistory and an international team of collaborators.
The findings were published in Nature Communications.
Until now, archaeologists believed that large-whale hunting first emerged among societies in the Arctic and North Pacific between 3,500 and 2,500 years ago.
This new evidence shows that South American coastal communities developed the skills, tools, and knowledge to hunt massive whales much earlier, reshaping our understanding of early human relationships with the sea.
The study focuses on Babitonga Bay, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Thousands of years ago, the region was home to societies that built enormous shell mounds known as sambaquis.
These monuments, made of shells, bones, and sediments, were once thought to reflect communities that mainly collected shellfish and fished close to shore.
By closely examining museum collections of bones and tools from sambaqui sites—many of which no longer exist—the researchers uncovered a very different story. The materials, now housed at the Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, include hundreds of whale bones and whale-bone tools that had never been fully analyzed.
Using a combination of traditional zooarchaeology, tool analysis, and modern molecular techniques, the team identified remains from several large whale species, including southern right whales, humpback whales, blue whales, sei whales, and sperm whales, as well as dolphins. Many of the bones showed clear cut marks, indicating deliberate butchering.
Even more striking was the discovery of large harpoons made from whale bone—among the biggest ever found in South America. These tools, along with the sheer number of whale remains, their presence in burial contexts, and the identification of coastal whale species, strongly suggest active hunting rather than the occasional use of stranded animals.
“The evidence shows these communities had specialized technologies and strategies to hunt large whales,” said Krista McGrath, lead author of the study. “They were doing this thousands of years earlier than we previously assumed.”
The findings also offer insights into ancient whale populations. The high number of humpback whale remains suggests that these whales once ranged much farther south than their main breeding grounds today. According to co-author Marta Cremer, recent increases in humpback sightings in southern Brazil may reflect a long-term return to historical habitats, which has important implications for conservation.
Beyond whales, the study transforms how scientists view sambaqui societies. André Colonese, senior author of the research, explains that these groups should now be seen not just as shellfish gatherers and fishers, but as skilled whalers with complex social organization.
Their success depended on cooperation, advanced maritime knowledge, and cultural practices tied to the capture of enormous marine animals. Though unwritten, this Indigenous history has survived through museum collections and the remaining sambaqui sites.
As Ana Paula, director of the Joinville museum, notes, these collections still hold immense potential to deepen our understanding of South America’s ancient coastal peoples—and their remarkable relationship with the ocean.
Source: KSR.
