Hardy, Bruce

Scheck, Ryan

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Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, and Creative ExchangeKenyon Summer Science Scholars Program Summer Student Research ScholarshipSummer 2017Examining the Flight Capabilities of NeanderthalSpearsRyan ScheckKenyon CollegeBruce HardyKenyon CollegeFollow this and additional works at: https://digital.kenyon.edu/summerscienceprogramThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Summer Student Research Scholarship at Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, andCreative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kenyon Summer Science Scholars Program by an authorized administrator of Digital Kenyon:Research, Scholarship, and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact noltj@kenyon.edu.Recommended CitationScheck, Ryan and Hardy, Bruce, "Examining the Flight Capabilities of Neanderthal Spears" (2017). Kenyon Summer Science ScholarsProgram. Paper 63.https://digital.kenyon.edu/summerscienceprogram/63Examining	the	Flight	Capabilities	of	Neanderthal	SpearsRyan	ScheckAdvisor	:	Bruce	HardyThe	purpose	of	our	project	was	to	determine	if	wooden	spears	which	date	back	to	Neanderthal	times	were	effective	throwing	weapons.	We	started	by	researching	the	size	and	materiel	of	the	spears	found	in	Schöningen.	We	then	made	full	size	replicas	using	sycamore	wood,	due	to	its	similar	hardness	to	that	of	the	pine	of	which	the	originals	were	made.	Our	first	attempt	at	replicating	a	throw	by	a	Neanderthal	was	using	a	ballista	since	Kenyon	students	can’t	throw	spears	that	well,	but	for	safety’s	sake,	we	had	to	change	methods.	Next	we	used	a	spear	thrower,	or	atlatl,	to	try	to	achieve	those	velocities,	and	we	did.	Then	I	created	several	atlatl	spear-darts	which	had	the	metal	tips	replaced	with	wood	tips	similar	to	the	tips	of	the	spears,	and	threw	at	a	simulated	animal	made	up	of	ballistics	gelatin	covered	with	cow	hide.	We	had	one	spear	penetrate	through	the	hide	and	a	few	inches	into	the	gel	at	23	m/s.	The	rest	either	missed	the	target	or	bounced	off	the	hide	with	a	bent	tip.	The	decreased	mass	of	these	darts	compared	to	the	spears,	and	the	slightly	lower	velocity	compared	with	what	a	Neanderthal	would	have	thrown	will	make	a	difference	in	the	energy	delivered	to	the	target	and	could	have	resulted	in	a	lethal	wound.	Since	we	cannot	conclude	whether	a	larger,	faster	spear	would	penetrate	and	cause	a	lethal	wound,	our	results	remain	inconclusive.Neanderthals	are	the	modern	humans	closest	ancestors.	They	lived	in	Europe	from	around	400,000	to	25,000	years	ago.	They	were	also	commonly	believed	to	have	lesser	intelligence	than	the	modern	man,	and	lack	the	ability	to	plan	ahead	and	thus	lack	the	mental	capacity	to	create	a	throwing	spear.	There	is	a	set	of	spears	which	were	unearthed	in	Schöningen,	Germany,	which	fit	the	time	frame	from	when	Neanderthals	would	have	inhabited	the	area	(Fig.	1). These	spears	are	also	weighted	with	the	center	of	gravity	in	the	front	third	of	the	spear,	indicating	the	weapons	may	have	been	used	as	throwing	implements.	Due	to	their	large	size,	many	anthropologists	have	concluded	that	the	spears	must	have	been	thrusting	implements	without	testing	the	possibility	of	them	being	used	as	throwing	implements.	It	is	our	goal	to	conduct	tests	with	projectiles	similar	to	the	spears,	at	speeds	similar	to	what	a	Neanderthal	would	have	thrown	at,	to	determine	if	these	spears	are	viable	throwing	weapons.IntroductionAbstractOur	experimental	setup	used	two	different	ways	of	accelerating	spears	or	spear	like	projectiles	to	the	speeds	we	desired.	We	selected	30	m/s	as	the	target	speed	because	that	is	the	speed	which	Olympic	javelin	throwers	throw	spears	of	similar	weight.	Unfortunately	we	do	not	have	any	Olympic	javelin	throwers	on	campus,	and	Kenyon	students	are	not	nearly	as	good	at	throwing	spears,	so	we	had	to	devise	other	ways	of	launching	the	projectiles.	Our	first	method	was	to	use	a	roman	style	ballista	to	replicate	the	speeds	(Fig.	2).	A	ballista	uses	the	tension	in	two	coils	of	rope	on	either	side	to	drive	a	replica	spear	(Fig.	3)	made	of	sycamore,	which	is	of	a	similar	hardness	as	pine	which	was	used	in	the	original	spears,	forward.	Unfortunately,	a	ballista	is	not	very	efficient,	and	loses	a	lot	of	energy.	Thus	we	had	to	tension	the	ropes	very	tightly,	and	as	a	result	bent	the	½	in.	steel	rods	and	¼	in	steel	plates	we	were	using	and	still	only	achieved	13	m/s	as	measured	using	a	high-speed	camera	and	tracking	software.	At	that	point	we	discontinued	the	ballista	due	to	safety	concerns.Experimental	DesignThe	other	method	of	propulsion	was	to	use	an	atlatl	(Fig.	4).	An	atlatl	works	by	extending	the	lever	arm	of	the	user,	which	applies	more	torque	to	the	dart,	and	allows	the	user	to	achieve	forces	much	greater	than	throwing	by	hand.	Additionally,	since	the	darts	are	flexible,	the	torque	can	be	applied	continuously	vs.	a	stiff	dart	which	would	only	capture	the	force	when	it	is	parallel	to	the	dart.	(Fig.	8)	The	increase	in	torque	over	a	simple	throw	can	be	seen	in	the	equation	t=RxF,	where	t	is	the	torque,	and	RxF is	a	cross	product	of	the	lever	arm,	and	the	force	applied.	With	the	atlatl,	this	simplifies	to	t=R(F),	so	increasing	the	lever	arm	at	all	will	vastly	increase	the	torque	by	using	a	longer	lever	arm.	Another	way	to	see	this	is	in	the	equations	for	circular	motion,	where	the	tangential	velocity	(what	the	velocity	of	the	spear	is)	is	equal	to	the	angular	velocity	times	the	radius.	Since	the	atlatl	increases	the	radius,	or	lever	arm,	significantly,	and	maintains	if	not	increases	the	angular	velocity,	it	will	greatly	increase	the	velocity	of	the	projectile.	With	this	method,	we	measured	speeds	of	around	25-30	m/s	with	a	high	speed	camera	and	tracking	software.	In	order	to	be	able	to	use	an	atlatl,	I	created	darts	which	had	the	factory	metal	tips	replaced	with	wooden	tips	similar	to	what	would	have	been	on	the	spear,	(Fig.	4).	They	were	mad	out	of	sycamore	wood	and	used	a	belt	sander	to	shape	it.	Then	we	drilled	a	hole	in	the	bottom	and	inserted	the	shaft	from	the	dart.	The	target	we	used	was	two	containers	of	ballistics	Gel,	covered	with	a	fresh	cow	hide	(Fig.	6).	This	simulates	throwing	at	an	actual	animal.We	did	25	throws	at	the	target	with	the	hybrid	spear-darts.	Most	of	the	throws	missed,	but	a	couple	did	hit	their	mark.	Of	the	6	which	hit	the	target,	only	one	penetrated	a	2	¼	In.	at	23	m/s	and	the	rest	bounced	off	with	a	broken	tip	(Fig.	5).	This	leaves	us	with	inconclusive	results	because	we	did	have	a	spear-dart	which	penetrated	enough	to	cause	a	lethal	wound,	but	the	spear-darts	do	not	have	the	same	mass	as	a	spear,	and	were	not	going	at	our	target	speed.	This	increased	mass	and	velocity	would	lead	to	much	larger	forces	being	applied	to	the	target	on	impact	and	very	well	could	deliver	a	lethal	wound.	Baugh,	Richard	A.	“Atlatl	Dynamics.”	Lithic	Technology,	vol.	23,	no.	1,	1998,	pp.	31–41.	JSTOR,	JSTOR,	Borgström,	Anders.	“The	Development	of	the	Javelin.”	New	Studies	In	Athletics,	2000,	pp.	25– 28.Browne,	Jim.	“Projectile	Points.”	American	Antiquity,	vol.	5,	no.	3,	 1940,	pp.	209–213.	JSTOR,	JSTOR,	Butler,	William	B.	“THE	Atlatal:	The	Physics	of	Function	and	Preformance.”	Plains	Anthropologist,	vol.	20,	no.	68,	1975,	pp.	105–110.	JSTOR,	Papagianni,	Dimitra,	and	Michael	A.	Morse.	The	Neanderthals	Rediscovered.	Thames	&	Hudson,		2015.Pfarr,	P.	Schöningen	Speer	VII	Im Sediment	1997.	1997Schoch,	Werner	H.,	et	al.	“New	Insights	on	the	Wooden	Weapons	from	the	Paleolithic	Site	of	Schöningen.”			Journal	of	Human	Evolution,	Academic	Press,	9	Oct.	2015.Sano,	Katsuhiro.	“Multidisciplinary	Approaches	to	the	Study	of	Stone	Age	Weaponry.”	Google	Books.Fig.	1:	Schöningen	Spear	(Pfarr)Fig.	2:	Ballista Fig.	3:	Spear	Replica↑	Fig.	6:	Cow-box	Target↑	Fig.	8	Flex	of	the	Dart↑Fig.	4:	Atlatl	&	Dart↑	Fig.	7:	Spear-Dart	&TargetExperimental	Design	Continued↑	Fig.	5:	Wound	made	by	Dart	(2	¼ in).ResultsReferencesI	would	like	to	thank	Professor	Paula	Turner	for	helping	with	the	physics	component	of	the	project.	I	would	also	like	to	thank	Professor	Bruce	Hardy	and	fellow	researcher	Andrea	Evans	for	their	contributions.Acknowledgments

Examining the Flight Capabilities of Neanderthal Spears

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Examining the Flight Capabilities of Neanderthal Spears

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