Oldest Stone Spear Tips Found: 500,000 Years Old

Oldest Stone Spear Tips Found: Came About 200,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

New evidence from a recently-published scientific study indicates that humans started crafting stone-tipped weapons 200,000 years earlier than previously believed. A team of scientists that included researchers from Arizona State University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cape Town have uncovered signs of hafting, or the art of attaching a stone tip to a spear, at an archaeological site in South Africa called Kathu Pan 1. Hafting was a significant advancement in human weaponry and hunting since it made spears more lethal and durable.

"There is a reason that modern bow-hunters tip their arrows with razor-sharp edges. These cutting tips are extremely lethal when compared to the effects from a sharpened stick. Early humans learned this fact earlier than previously thought," said co-author of the study Benjamin Schoville, who is affiliated with the Institute of Human Origins, a research center of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

Hafting was previously attributed to Homo sapiens and Neanderthals around 300,000 years ago, but the new findings indicate that a shared ancestor between the two, Homo heidelbergensis, was practicing the craft 500,000 years ago.

Well this is a little jewel of a find. I know many here find this as interesting as I do. I did a quick search and found nothing in this forum. Well it appears if true the timeline is being pushed back even further.

I wonder what other discoveries they'll find the farther back they go? It seems interesting to me that some would find this discovery surprising? I don't think our ancient cousins were primitive like we are lead to believe.

As always
Stay tuned.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
Well this is a little jewel of a find. I know many here find this as interesting as I do.
As always
Stay tuned.

Indeed!!!

Fantastic find mate - half a million years aye.

Thats gonna put a big fat cat among some pigeons - and then some.

S&F - finely tuned and receiving 5 by 5.

Good post Slayer

More information on this site


2010 report on a similar discovery from the same site

An earlier hand axe found in the vicinity of the site

Hand Axe

reply to post by SLAYER69



I see scientists scrambling...........




Doctor, would an ape make a human doll that TALKS?~ Taylor(Planet of the Apes)

One thing I've thought about regarding ancient man is still the idea of us being invaders rather than having evolved... or a variation.

What if our ancestors came from somewhere else in the neighbourhood and then breeded ourselves into the different races on the planet.
I've always found it hard to believe that we all came from the exact same ancestor considering how many appearance based differences there are amongst the peoples of Earth.

Great find anyways, Earths history is amazing!

These findings are utter lies. Don't you know that the Earth is 6000 years old?

=/

reply to post by Raelsatu


Oh...

I have a very large thread on a related topic waiting in the wings

reply to post by SLAYER69


Looking forward to it. =]

reply to post by SLAYER69


You think in our lifetime, archaeologists will find the holy grail of finds? Just something that will turn everything we believe in, on its heals?

I think so.

These are the type, that will redefine our past.

reply to post by SLAYER69


if these ones that we found are 500000 years old, how old are the ones we havent found yet, it amazing how we can find little sharpend rocks 500000 later, it almost makes me wonder, who wanted us to find these? or who finnelly released this discovery and why? great as always slayer keep it up.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Are those the actual pics?

I find it hard to believe because of the organic matter of binding and the shaft itself being organic, Unless the shafts are petrified?

Can skin (leather) show up as petrified?

SnF/

Peace

Originally posted by jude11
Are those the actual pics?

I find it hard to believe because of the organic matter of binding and the shaft itself being organic, Unless the shafts are petrified?

Can skin (leather) show up as petrified?

Those are actually replicas.
The image in the article has a disclaimer underneath it.

Man is over 500,000 thousand years old?

And we still haven't left this rock.

Great find

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by jude11
Are those the actual pics?

I find it hard to believe because of the organic matter of binding and the shaft itself being organic, Unless the shafts are petrified?

Can skin (leather) show up as petrified?

Those are actually replicas.

The image in the article has a disclaimer underneath it.

Thank you,

Now I have to research further back on the ATLATL invention.

If this is true, then the ATLATL might possibly be further back than previously thought. And if that's the case, we may have a different Continent altogether.

Thanks for the new info.

Peace

I'm a little dubious, although I would love to believe.

I can't find the full text of the scientific study and the brief synopsis only states that multiple
methods of dating were used--one of them being looking closely at the hacking cuts on the stone
without explanation of how that would lead to a conclusion of age.

Still, it boggle my mind how we humans could have grubbed around in caves for several hundred
thousand years and then suddenly have out technology explode over the course of a few thousand
years.

I still think an alien species came down here and stuck a hand in our human cookie jar

reply to post by Hanslune


Wow that Hand axe is a real work of art. Beautiful.

Slayer,
H. Heidlebergensis, the post- H. erectus theorized to be a common ancestor to Neaderthal, and Sapiens. (At least that's the current theory). I'd place a bet that the spear tips, essentially smaller models of the hand-axes. Will eventually be found to coexist with remains at Erectus sites. And not sites that were contemporary to Heidlebergensis, but even older sites. I think I am correct, that in terms of timeframe, and dissemination of species. Homo erectus has been the most successful Human to date. Perhaps they were around for close to a million years, in a relatively unchanged form. They were using the hand-axe for a long time. Seems to me that maybe more than once, an Erectus put a hand-axe on a stick in all that time. I bet we find proof eventually.

thanks for the info!

reply to post by SLAYER69



thats a hell of a difference from 300,000 to 500,000
200,000 years is a HUGE difference
and yet Egyptologists still argue that Khafre built the Sphinx during his reign 2520-2494 BC when theres clear evidence of water erosion around the enclosure which equals at least 7000 BC but could be as old as 36,000 BC
so to say the sphinx wasnt built in 2500 BC and say it was built between 7000 and 36,000 BC dosnt seem to much of a jump anymore, to me anyway

thanks again Slayer for a fantastic thread

Wow. So what could this mean...? If humans were originally thought to have existed at least 300,000 years ago then this leaves a 200,000 year old beginning that predates everything we think we know. This world is full of mystery.. Those ancestors of ours weren't supposedly very smart.. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that there was another race that was smarter (not too much smarter) helping them out.

Then again, I guess one of the bored ones figured something out by smashing rock together in random fashion.. lol.. humans..

You know, I remember when they used to think humans were around 200,000 years ago. Now it's gone up to 500,000. One has to ponder if we discover that humans have been around for about a million years one day.

That's from a gift shop near the grand canyon. It's 500,000 seconds old.