Discovery of Weapons Technology from 71,000 Years Ago

Scientists excavating a site near Mossel Bay in South Africa have found evidence of hunting weapons from around 71,000 years ago, pre-dating almost all other known occurrences of this technology. This discovery adds to significant evidence of early advanced technologies and symbolic behaviour already discovered in that region, to suggest that modern humans may have evolved on the coast of South Africa.

This significant discovery comes in the form of an innocuous stone blade about 1cm by 3cm. The stone used to make these blades first had to undergo a complex process called ‘heat treatment’ in order to flake off such narrow shards, which were then blunted on one edge (a process called ‘backing’) and glued into slots in wood or bone. These deadly projectiles were probably used as spear-throwers or as arrows in bow and arrow technology, meaning that hunters could stand outside the reach of angry buffalos and still kill with power and accuracy.

It is difficult for scientists to trace the development of technology as humans evolved, and the very small number of well-excavated sites in Africa only compounds the problem.  This microlithic technology had previously been identified at a site dating from 60,000 to 65,000 years ago, but debate rages as to whether the skills were maintained for 11,000 years or whether the technologies came and went as people adapted to constantly changing climatic conditions.

It is easy to see how projectile throwing technologies had important benefits for the early modern humans – allowing them to hunt more aggressive prey (and indeed rival tribes) with less risk of personal injury. Ultimately these humans would go on to be responsible for the extinction of several species, including our sister-species the Neanderthals – pretty impressive for a piece of stone smaller than your ipod!