Did Pleistocene Africans use the spearthrower‐and‐dart?
2021/08/03 by Marlize Lombard, John J. Shea · 46 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeological evidence #Archaeology #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Computer science #Dart #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Geography #Geology #History #Homo sapiens #Paleontology #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Projectile point #Spear #Subsistence agriculture
paper · doi:10.1002/evan.21912
published in Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews 30(5), 307-315 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2021/08/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract
Archeologists commonly suppose that among complex projectile weapons humans use as subsistence aids, the spearthrower-and-dart preceded bow-and-arrow use. And yet, neither ethnographic nor archeological records furnish any robust evidence for spearthrower-and-dart use in Africa. Instead, evidence grows apace for ever-more ancient bow-and-arrow use. Here we explore these findings and their implications for models of early Homo sapiens behavior.
Citations
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