Summary and Conclusions: Stone Age Weapons in the Context of Major Debates in Human Evolution (original) (raw)

Recent zooarchaeological and isotope analyses have largely settled the debate surrounding Neanderthal hunting capacities, repeatedly demonstrating their successful acquisition of large ungulates. Nevertheless, the functional identification of individual tools as hunting weapons remains a methodological challenge. In-depth studies have focussed mainly on small subsets of lithic artefacts from selected assemblages assessing features of breakage patterns, retouch, shape and use wear. Studies focussing on associated hunting lesions are rarer and often focus on reconstructing very specific bone surface marks encountered in the archaeological record. This study aims to add to our understanding of the formation and characteristics of projectile impact marks (PIMs) on bone through a series of highly monitored, replicative experiments, using thrusting and throwing spears with replica Levallois points into two wild pig carcasses. In total, 152 shots were made, and for each a series of attribu...

Numerous projectile experiments focusing on the replication and use of Stone Age spearheads and arrowheads made of bone or antler have been undertaken since the early 1980s. A survey of this literature is presented here, focusing on aspects of point resistance and breakage patterns, in order to provide a synthetic view of the experimentally-attested macroscopic use-wear traces on this type of implements. Emerging from this general overview, a consistent discrepancy in the extent of fracture damage between the experimental results and the archeological record is pointed out. A first explanation for this situation is suggested, based on recent experimental results. Finally, several directions for further research on this topic are proposed.

This bibliography was originally compiled mostly from Knecht (1997) and Dockall (1997) and has been more or less regularly updated since the early 2000s. As of August 2023 it includes 173 references of articles, books and university works (MA and PhDs). References are classified according to geographic area (Europe, Near East, Africa, America, Asia), period, type of points studied (lithic or osseous) when relevant, and are then listed alphabetically. Only references dealing with the experimental study of the function of projectile points and providing primary experimental results have been listed here. Thus, this list does not include experimental studies of projectile impacts on bones, or of the use parameters of the spearthrower and the bow (bow and spearthrower mechanics, techniques of use, effective range, etc). Traceological and functional analyses of projectile points without first-hand experimental approach, as well as methodological papers, and analyses of previously published experimental material and results, were also not included in this list.

This paper explores the effect of taphonomic processes on 500-thousand-year-old stone points from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa by statistically comparing archaeological edge damage distributions on the points to competing models of edge damage formation. We found that both taphonomic and behavioral processes influenced edge damage formation on the KP1 points, and the KP1 edge damage distribution is best explained by a combination of taphonomic effects and use as spear tips. The edge damage distribution method employed here advances studies of Stone Age weaponry because it can be used to quantitatively assess the effect of taphonomic and behavioral processes on stone tips without relying on subjective evaluations that attribute causation to individual wear features.

Identifying the use of stone-tipped projectile weapons in prehistory is important for understanding hominin strategic behavior and cognitive capacities. Such identifications are based on 'diagnostic impact fractures' (DIFs), assumed to form as a result of collisions between the tips and organic materials in the prey body. However, demonstrating weapon use requires documenting an impact speed and/or kinetic energy beyond those likely to occur accidentally or as a by-product of other tasks. We present a new experiment aimed at investigating the influence of speed on impact fracture formation in controlled conditions. Using an air-gun, we fired 234 nearly identical spears tipped with copies of a Levallois point cast in soda-lime glass into a composite target made of polyurethane bone-like plates, ballistic gelatin, and leather. The impact speed ranged from ≈7 to ≈30 m/s and the impact angle (IA) varied in increments of 15o, from 90o-45o. We show that realistic DIFs can be produced under these controlled conditions. The frequency of longitudinal tip macrofractures is directly proportional to the impact speed but inversely proportional to the IA. The relationship between the tip fracture type and the type of damage left on the target explains the contact conditions for the formation of different DIFs. No relationship between either initiation or termination type and speed could be established. Therefore, we conclude that 'step-terminating bending fractures' should not be considered diagnostic of weapon use without further supporting evidence. Further, although fracture length increases with speed when IA is held constant, a great deal of overlap exists between trials with different IAs. Given the expected high variance in IA in real hunting situations, large longitudinal macrofractures on the tips of archaeologically recovered lithics should not automatically be interpreted as resulting from the use of high-speed projectiles. We discuss the study's implications for the differentiation of prehistoric weapon-delivery systems, especially regarding recognizing stone- tipped weapon use by Neandertals.

The origins of complex projectile weaponry provides insight into cultural and biological changes associated with the origins and spread of modern human populations. Middle Stone Age backed pieces are often thought to be components of such armaments, however our limited understanding of their functional characteristics as projectiles precludes understanding the adaptive problems they may have solved. Despite acknowledgment of raw material differences and intra-assemblage variability, whether variability in backed piece form reflects functional , economic, or stylistic variation has a paucity of empirical support. Here, the functional differences in backed piece form (size and shape) while hafted transversely and obliquely as high-velocity complex projectile armatures are examined. If there are performance tradeoffs simply in how backed pieces are arranged at the end of armaments that can influence effectiveness, then identifying the archaeological arrangement can provide insight into what variables were being prioritized in prehistoric technological systems. How variation in backed piece size, elongation, and hafting arrangement influences complex projectile performance is tested using experimental and actualistic projectile replications with a calibrated crossbow against animal and ballistics gelatin targets. The results of this study show that, within the size and shape variation of silcrete backed pieces examined , tool form plays a relatively limited role in their performance as projectile armatures. However, hafting orientation has very different performance characteristics for complex projectiles shot at ballistics gelatin compared to animal targets. We demonstrate that transversely hafted tools have more lethal internal wounds, but obliquely hafted backed pieces have greater puncture reliability. These functional differences represent different technological design emphasis: transversely hafted tools create large, deep wounds, while obliquely hafted arrows and darts create a puncture more reliably. Although obliquely hafted armaments cause less internal trauma, they are more likely to penetrate the hide of ungulate prey. Variability in MSA hunting tactics may have played a role in the design of weapon systems to optimize these performance tradeoffs. Despite similarities in shape with ethno-historic technologies, based on these results, MSA-sized backed pieces hafted as projectile armatures were unlikely to have been used with small, low-powered bows-but would have been lethal with a high-velocity delivery system.

Abstract The aim of this work is to model patterns of morphological variation in Middle-Late Holocene stemmed projectile points from Patagonia through comparative methods. With this purpose, we explore the potential of different analytical strategies using projectile point shapes, obtained by means of geometric morphometrics. Phylogenetic and spatial variations were used to model morphological patterns on different scales. Morphological data comes from digitized images of projectile points from different areas of Patagonia. Morphometric characters were obtained using landmark and semilandmark descriptors. Mean shape by area was computed and used in cladistic analysis to model diversification trends. Then, phylogenetic and geographical coordinates were estimated for each data set and used as predictor variables in multiple regression procedures. Results suggest that historical patterns of shape change are channeled by spatial dimension. Pattern of mobility and interaction among human populations in Patagonia in the Middle-Late Holocene are discussed in light of these results.