Skills shortage: a critical evaluation of the use of human participants in early spear experiments

Hand-delivered spears are the earliest clear hunting technology in the archaeological record, with origins from 400,000 years ago, before the evolution of our own species. Experimental archaeological approaches to early weaponry continue to grow, and both controlled and naturalistic experiments are making significant contributions to interpreting such technologies. Using human participants is often useful and sometimes necessary for such work. This paper argues that greater consideration should be afforded to a number of aspects of human performance in experimental work - whether naturalistic or controlled - including how proficiency and physiology may affect outcomes

A review of ethnographic use of wooden spears and implications for Pleistocene hominin hunting

Wooden spears are amongst the earliest weapons known from the archaeological record, with broken and complete examples known from Middle and Late Pleistocene Eurasian, Australian and South American sites. They were manufactured and used by multiple species of Homo, including H. sapiens. This paper comprises the first systematic review of ethnographic data on the recent use of wooden spears for hunting and human violence. It confronts the historical racism underpinning the abuse of ethnographic data on wooden spears, including associations between the technology and the development of cognitive abilities in human evolution. The review demonstrates that wooden spears were used as thrusting and throwing weapons by recent societies in North America, South America, Africa, and Oceania, and continue to be used today by children as training tools in hunter-gatherer societies. Their use is recorded in a wide range of climates and environments, using a variety of different hunting strategies to target terrestrial and aquatic prey. Whilst acknowledging limitations of ethnographic datasets, Middle and early Late Pleistocene hominin hunting is reconsidered, briefly overviewing wooden spears in relation to the variety of climate and ecological settings in which Pleistocene hominins hunted, targeted prey, and the potential for delivery methods and hunting strategies. The results underscore the importance of systematic reviews when utilising ethnography in interpreting archaeological evidence: selective references in relation to the use of wooden spears have overlooked additional examples that point to a richness and variability of technology and behaviour that is invisible in the Pleistocene archaeological record

A Middle Palaeolithic to Early Upper Palaeolithic succession from an open air site at Beedings, West Sussex

The collection of flintwork from the site of Beedings, West Sussex (England) contains by far the largest number of stone tools from the earliest Upper Palaeolithic of Britain, and is one of the two largest assemblages of its type in Europe. Despite its obvious importance, its analysis has been hindered by several factors resulting from its early excavation. Chief amongst these is the almost total lack of stratigraphic or contextual information: its Early Upper Palaeolithic attribution has hitherto been made largely on its typological and technological similarity to stratified archaeology elsewhere.\ud \ud New fieldwork in 2007 and 2008 in an area directly adjacent to the original site located further Upper Palaeolithic material, in addition to Middle Palaeolithic and Mesolithic material, situated within a series of fissures. Here we provide an overview of the excavation and details of the archaeological context within which further flint artefacts were found. By extension this work provides the first contextual information for the old, larger collection.\ud \ud The results of OSL analysis accord with an Early Upper Palaeolithic age for the majority of the old lithic collection from the site. Stratigraphic data support this Early Upper Palaeolithic age, and also help to validate the separation of material within the old collection into Middle Palaeolithic, Early Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. These stratigraphic data also suggest that Beedings is the only stratified Middle–Upper Palaeolithic open-air site in Britain. Taphonomic analysis indicates a mechanism for site formation, and accounts for the exceptional preservation of this Palaeolithic archaeology. In the light of this taphonomic analysis the “Sackung” hypothesis of site capture proposed previously for Beedings is upheld and further discussed. Wider implications for the preservation of open-air Palaeolithic sites in the region are also considered

The wooden artifacts from Schöningen’s Spear Horizon and their place in human evolution

Ethnographic records show wooden tools played a pivotal role in the daily lives of hunter-gatherers including food procurement tools used in hunting (e.g. spears, throwing sticks) and gathering (e.g. digging sticks, bark peelers), as well as, domestic tools (e.g. handles, vessels). However, wood rarely survives in the archaeological record, especially in Pleistocene contexts and knowledge of prehistoric hunter-gatherer lifeways is strongly biased by the survivorship of more resilient materials such as lithics and bones. Consequently, very few Palaeolithic sites have produced wooden artefacts and among them, the site of Schöningen stands out due to its number and variety of wooden tools. The recovery of complete wooden spears and throwing sticks at this 300,000-year-old site (MIS 9) led to a paradigm shift in the hunter vs scavenger debate. For the first time and almost 30 years after their discovery, this study introduces the complete wooden assemblage from Schöningen 13 II-4 known as the Spear Horizon. In total, 187 wooden artefacts could be identified from the Spear Horizon demonstrating a broad spectrum of wood working techniques, including the splitting technique. A minimum of 20 hunting weapons is now recognised and two newly identified artefact types comprise 35 tools made on split woods, which were likely used in domestic activities. Schöningen 13 II-4 represents the largest Pleistocene wooden artefact assemblage worldwide and demonstrates the key role woodworking had in human evolution. Finally, our results considerably change the interpretation of the Pleistocene lakeshore site of Schöningen

First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals

During the Upper Paleolithic, lions become an important theme in Paleolithic art and are more frequent in anthropogenic faunal assemblages. However, the relationship between hominins and lions in earlier periods is poorly known and primarily interpreted as interspecies competition. Here we present new evidence for Neanderthal-cave lion interactions during the Middle Paleolithic. We report new evidence of hunting lesions on the 48,000 old cave lion skeleton found at Siegsdorf (Germany) that attest to the earliest direct instance of a large predator kill in human history. A comparative analysis of a partial puncture to a rib suggests that the fatal stab was delivered with a wooden thrusting spear. We also present the discovery of distal lion phalanges at least 190,000 old from Einhornhöhle (Germany), representing the earliest example of the use of cave lion skin by Neanderthals in Central Europe. Our study provides novel evidence on a new dimension of Neanderthal behavioral complexity

Yew wood, would you? An exploration of the selection of wood for Pleistocene spears

Wood, perishable as it is, likely played a central role in Pleistocene societies and their material culture. This paper is an exploration of the use of wood species by hominins at three key European sites that yielded evidence of hominin manufacture of wooden spears. The sample includes the Clacton Spear point, found in interglacial freshwater deposits at Clacton-on-Sea (UK) dated to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, the collection of wooden spears and spear fragments found at Schöningen 13 II-4 (Germany) dated to MIS 9, and the single complete wooden spear discovered with a butchered elephant at Lehringen (Germany), dated to MIS 5e. Material properties of wood may have influenced the manufacture, performance and durability of these early weapons. This paper collates data on some commonly measured properties of wood, with a focus on the wood species likely available at each site. It explores the use of wood for the spears at these archaeological sites and seeks to understand whether these species were deliberately selected for their material properties. The thought experiment is supported by data from previ�ously published experimental replications, alongside ethnographic data on manufacture and use of wooden tools. The evidence suggests hominins were aware of the material properties of different species of wood, and selection may have been influenced by economic as well as social factors

Pleistocene weaponry

Weaponry co-evolved with the genus Homo, providing a means with which to actively hunt. This review of the evidence of the use of weapons in the Pleistocene traces the development from one-piece wooden spears and throwing sticks through to innovative technologies such as harpoons and the bow. While hunting tools provide pathways for understanding subsistence strategies, they also are significant for mapping shifts in cognitive evolution, technological adaptions, social structures and cultural learning

Lethal Threshold: The Evolutionary Implications of Middle Pleistocene Wooden Spears

This thesis provides empirical data pertaining to the use of the earliest weapons in the archaeological record, which are a collection of plain wooden spears dating to the Middle Pleistocene. These weapons have been variously interpreted as objects for scavenging, hunting and self-defence. It is important to test these functional interpretations with a multi-disciplinary data-led approach, as these interpretations have implications for theories on the origins of human hunting, shifts in cognition, social structures and language. This is the first time a systematic, holistic approach to these artefacts has been taken, and is timely as several of the key sites of the period are currently undergoing further detailed analysis, resulting in reinterpretations of human behaviours during Middle Pleistocene. In this document the performance of these artefacts is addressed through three research strands. The archaeological strand looks at both wooden spears as well as potential hunting lesions from their use. The approach to these include qualitative and quantitative analyses. The ethnographic strand comprises a review of the literature pertaining to the use of wooden spears in pre-industrialised societies. Alongside this, a morphometric analysis of a large sample of wooden spears from museum collections in the UK and Australia is presented for comparative purposes. The third strand consists of a multi-phase experimental programme, examining human performance when using replicas as thrusting and throwing spears; effectiveness of the spears on large mammals; hunting lesions resulting from use of the spears on large mammals; hammerstone impact damage to scapulae addressing questions of equifinality; and guided free-fall impact drop tests to better understand spear tip design. Results from the different approaches are brought together and compared, to better address the archaeological record from the Middle Pleistocene, including both the weapons themselves and potential zooarchaeological signatures resulting from their use

Morpho-Metric Variability of Early Gravettian Tanged “Font-Robert” Points, and Functional Implications

Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Early Gravettian Font-Robert points – tanged tools created on blades – were initially defined as weapon armatures, and this is frequently referred to as their function. However, Font-Robert points have been described as a morphologically variable type, with suggestions that this morphological variability represents a functional variability. Here we discuss this issue with reference to a sample of Early Gravettian tanged artifacts (including Font-Robert points) from Maisières-Canal in Belgium, as well as two similar artifacts from Britain. Although many of the artifacts studied have a morphology and size commensurate with their function as lithic armatures, the majority are apparently unlikely to have functioned within a “complex” projectile technology, which contrasts with measurement data published on Font-Robert points from France. Instead, Font-Robert points from Maisières-Canal and Britain display a notable level of morpho-metric variability. By extension, this suggests a functional variability, a possibility that needs confirmation with use-wear analysis. These Font-Robert points may have served as technologically simpler throwing or thrusting spears, as knives, or as versatile, multi-function tools. Overall, we stress that morpho-metric data complements use-wear studies, when assessing potential projectile function, and can help make an assessment of which artifacts to target for such research techniques