External ballistics of Pleistocene hand-thrown spears: experimental performance data and implications for human evolution

Abstract

The appearance of weaponry - technology designed to kill - is a critical but poorly established threshold in human evolution. It is an important behavioural marker representing evolutionary changes in ecology, cognition, language and social behaviours. While the earliest weapons are often considered to be hand-held and consequently short-ranged, the subsequent appearance of distance weapons is a crucial development. Projectiles are seen as an improvement over contact weapons, and are considered by some to have originated only with our own species in the Middle Stone Age and Upper Palaeolithic. Despite the importance of distance weapons in the emergence of full behavioral modernity, systematic experimentation using trained throwers to evaluate the ballistics of thrown spears during flight and at impact is lacking. This paper addresses this by presenting results from a trial of trained javelin athletes, providing new estimates for key performance parameters. Overlaps in distances and impact energies between hand-thrown spears and spearthrowers are evidenced, and skill emerges as a significant factor in successful use. The results show that distance hunting was likely within the repertoire of hunting strategies of Neanderthals, and the resulting behavioural flexibility closely mirrors that of our own species.

Human athletic paleobiology; using sport as a model to investigate human evolutionary adaptation

“…A proposed explanation for this asymmetry is the use of projectile technology. The use of hand‐thrown spears during the Pleistocene is considered an important event in human evolution (Milks et al, ), and could provide an explanation for this observed asymmetry. Prior to the relatively recent invention of the atatl and bow (Shea, ), spears facilitated activities such as hunting (Bunn & Gurtov, ; Gamble, ; Iovita & Sano, ; Thieme, ), defense against predators (Serangeli, Van Kolfschoten, Starkovich, & Verheijen, ), and interpersonal violence (Churchill, Franciscus, McKean‐Peraza, Daniel, & Warren, ).…”

“…This approach has facilitated significant advances in understanding human form and function relative to other hominins in both the upper and lower limbs. Observational and experimental investigations integrating laboratory and field studies with the fossil record have furthered understanding of evolved athletic activities such as bipedal endurance running (Bramble & Lieberman, ; Lieberman, , , , ), the use of projectile technology and spear thrusting (Milks, Parker, & Pope, ; Rhodes & Churchill, ; Shaw, Hofmann, Petraglia, Stock, & Gottschall, ). This methodology has provided new perspectives toward a range of human morphological traits.…”

When Lithics Hit Bones: Evaluating the Potential of a Multifaceted Experimental Protocol to Illuminate Middle Palaeolithic Weapon Technology

“…Thus participants in the projectile experiments had potentially greater control over the flight and impact of the spear point, increasing the likelihood of carcass hit and PIM formation (Milks et al 2016a). Secondly, both the higher velocities and increased kinetic energy undoubtedly influenced the ability of the spear point to penetrate the soft tissue and muscle of the carcass and impact on the bone (Wilkins et al 2014;Milks et al 2019). Thus, carcass strikes at lower velocities and with reduced kinetic energy may not have had sufficient energy remaining to impact on the bone causing PIMs.…”

“…Finally, while much of the debate has centred on the identification of Neanderthal lithic projectile technology, DIFs and associated PIMs, archaeologists must also consider Neanderthal use of wooden spear without lithic tips (Thieme 1997(Thieme , 2005Smith 2003;Schoch et al 2015;Gaudzinski-Windheuser et al 2018;Milks et al 2019). The presence of these artefacts within the Middle Palaeolithic archaeological record and the identification of PIMs, certainly for the last interglacial (Gaudzinski-Windheuser et al 2018), necessitate additional experimental protocols and another level of interpretive complexity (see also Coppe et al 2019).…”

“…Furthermore, stable isotope analysis from Neanderthal fossils repeatedly illustrates values that are consistent with the consumption of large quantities of terrestrial animal protein (Bocherens et al 2001(Bocherens et al , 2005Richards et al 2001;Richards and Trinkaus 2009;Britton et al 2011;Naito et al 2016;Jaouen et al 2019). Despite the frequency and abundance of Middle Palaeolithic sites with butchered faunal remains, reconstructing underlying acquisition methods (Smith 2015; e.g., hunting strategy; see White et al 2016) and technologies (e.g., wooden javelins, stonetipped spears) often remains ambiguous (Thieme 1997;Shea 2006;Schoch et al 2015;Gaudzinski-Windheuser 2016;Iovita and Sano 2016;Gaudzinski-Windheuser et al 2018;Milks et al 2019). Due to unfavourable preservation conditions, the remains of organic spears and hafts from Palaeolithic contexts are rare (Thieme 1997;Schoch et al 2015).…”