Early humans hunted with bows and arrows in Europe: 9,000 years before popular belief

The discovery of a large number of arrowheads pushes back the origin of this transformation technology in Europe by about 9,000 years, but creates new mysteries.

The earliest known examples of mechanical weapons in Europe (probably bows and arrows) were found in the south of France and are about 54 thousand years old. That’s 9,000 years higher than the previous record.

IFLScience writes that, along with the previous finding at the same location, this important technology coincided with the emergence of the first modern humans in Western Europe, but took root for a surprisingly long time.

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The discovery of a baby tooth in the Grotto Mandrin cave in southern France last year indicates that early modern humans arrived in Western Europe about 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. The discovery raised the question of whether some of the technological tools of that era were the work of Neanderthals, as previously thought, or whether they were the work of our immediate ancestors.

Now, a more important find from the same cave shows that the first humans to arrive in the area may have had a significant technological advantage during the ice age. Later, hundreds of artifacts were unearthed in the excavations made in the layer where the tooth was found.

In a new study, Dr. A team led by Laura Metz discovered that many fired weapons designed for bows and arrows rather than spears.

Metz and other researchers say they found 2,267 stone tools and other debris, three-quarters of which were knives or other sharp objects. It seems that our ancestors knew what they were doing when making these tools.

The tips themselves fall into two different categories: some are 30-60 millimeters long, others 10-30 millimeters. These two categories are made using different processes with small tips obtained using a technique the authors refer to as applying spaces to stamps.

Many have no traces of use, while others are unclear. However, in nearly half of the cases where it can be pinpointed, wear on the blades indicates “hit” by both thrown and moving weapons. Other knives have long been used for cutting meat or skin, which we know is common to humans and their ancestors.

The authors agree that the larger blades may have been used as spearheads, while the smaller blades may have been attached to arrows or possibly javelins.

Among the known weapons, although they are made of flint, these look most like poisoned arrowheads from South Africa. The team was also able to imitate small flint arrowheads and successfully fire them to mimic the ancient bow.

The nature of the finds is considered somewhat confusing, although there is evidence of approximately 70,000 years of use of bows and arrows in Africa. The Grotto Chuck is a prime example of their active use.

Regardless, the find itself creates many mysteries and questions. Why did early modern humans arrive in this region 54,000 years ago with such an excellent hunting tool, then disappeared and Neanderthals regained local dominance for 10-12 thousand years?

A major technological advance with no sign of or expected to be copied and owned by locals, or it will lead to foreign domination.

Moreover, if the ability to kill prey from afar wasn’t enough to allow modern humans to take over the area at the time, then what changed when they returned thousands of years later? If Grotto Mandren has the answers to these riddles, they have yet to be discovered.

Previously Focus wrote about a big bonus – finds in Germany showed how Neanderthals hunted ancient elephants.

He also mentioned the remains of the oldest modern man in Europe: perhaps this is a completely new species.

Source: Focus

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