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Evidence for early hafted hunting technology.

Jayne Wilkins¹, Benjamin J Schoville, Kyle S Brown

¹Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S2, Canada. jayne.wilkins@utoronto.ca

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|November 20, 2012

Summary

Early humans crafted spear tips ~500,000 years ago, evidenced by stone points from South Africa. This discovery pushes back the timeline for complex tool manufacturing by 200,000 years.

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Area of Science:

Archaeology
Paleoanthropology
Material Science

Background:

Hafting stone points to spears represented a significant technological leap for early humans, enhancing their hunting capabilities.
The development of projectile technology is a key indicator of cognitive and behavioral advancements in human evolution.

Observation:

Stone points from the Kathu Pan 1 (KP1) site in South Africa, dated to approximately 500,000 years ago, display characteristics indicative of spear tip function.
Analysis reveals fracture patterns consistent with impact, modifications suggesting hafting, and edge damage patterns mirroring experimental spear tips.

Findings:

Metric and experimental data support the functional use of KP1 points as spear tips.
Shape analysis indicates symmetry in both smaller and larger retouched points, aligning with the requirements for effective spear tips.
The distribution of edge damage is dissimilar to that expected for cutting or scraping tools, further supporting their use as projectile points.

Implications:

This evidence suggests early humans were manufacturing complex, multi-component tools, specifically hafted spear tips, much earlier than previously understood.
The findings indicate a ~200,000-year advancement in the timeline for the production of sophisticated hafted tools.
This pushes back the evidence for advanced tool-making capabilities, impacting our understanding of early human technological innovation and cognitive abilities.