Abstract

BUSCAGLIA, Silvana  and  ALBERTI, Jimena. A HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ABOUT GUNFLINTS: A TECHNOLOGY BARELY KNOWN IN ARGENTINA. Relaciones [online]. 2017, vol.42, n.1, pp.1-10. ISSN 0325-2221.

A gunt is a piece of rock used to activate frearms by producing a spark and the subsequent ignition of gunpowder to fre a projectile. Originated in Europe, this technology was developed and used between the 17^th and 19^th centuries. Since the study of this technology is at an early stage in Argentinian archaeology, the main goal of this paper is to present a review of the available data on the subject. Thus, aspects of the gunts' origins and circulation, the types of weapons in which they were used, the manufacturing techniques and raw materials used, the techno-typological attributes, the context of use and life cycle, and existing records up to date on gunts recovered in archaeological contexts in Argentina, are presented and discussed. We expect that this review and synthesis paper works as a reference for the study of this "historic" technology among researchers interested and unfamiliar with it.

Keywords : gunts - lithic technology - 16^th to 19^th centuries - frearms technology.

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