300,000-year-old throwing stick documents the evolution of hunting

HeritageDaily ^ | April 22, 2020 | Universitaet Tuebingen

[SunkenCiv]

Research at Schengen demonstrates that already 300,000 years ago Homo heidelbergensis used a combination of throwing sticks, spears and thrusting lances. Prof. Nicholas Conard and Dr. Jordi Serangeli, who lead the research team, attribute the exceptional discovery to the outstanding preservation of wooden artifacts in the water saturated lakeside sediments in Schengen.

The throwing stick was recovered in layer 13 II-4, which in the 1990s yielded examples of throwing spears, a thrusting lance and additional wooden tools of unknown function. Like almost all of these finds, the new artifact was carefully carved from spruce wood. The throwing stick is 64.5 cm long, 2.9 cm in diameter and weighs 264 grams. The cross-section is asymmetrical with a round and a flatter side.

Use-wear analysis conducted by Veerle Rots from the University of Liege shows how the maker of the throwing stick used stone tools to cut the branches flush and then to smooth the surface of the artifact. The artifact preserves impact fractures and damage consistent with that found on ethnographic and experimental examples of throwing sticks.

When in flight, throwing sticks, also referred to as "rabbit sticks" and "killing sticks" rotate around their center of gravity, and do not return to the thrower, as is the case with boomerangs. Instead the rotation helps to maintain a straight, accurate trajectory while increasing the likelihood of striking prey animals. Jordi Serangeli explains: "They are effective weapons at diverse distances and can be used to kill or wound birds or rabbits or to drive larger game, such as the horses that were killed and butchered in large numbers in the Schengen lakeshore." Remains of swans and ducks are well-documented in the find horizon.

[SunkenCiv]

Die Universität Tübingen und die Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung haben am 20. April 2020 die Entdeckung eines 300.000 Jahre alten Wurfstocks bekannt gegeben. Dieses hölzerne Objekt, publiziert in Nature EE , zeigt Anzeichen von Verarbeitung und Spuren der Verwendung als Jagdwaffe. Diese Entdeckung ist nicht nur eine Sensation, sondern auch das Ergebnis sorgfältiger Erforschung der Gebrauchsspuren (in Kooperation mit Veerle Rots von der Universität Lüttich).

Dieser neue Fund trägt dazu bei, unseren Wissenshorizont über die Schaffung und den Gebrauch der ersten Waffen der Menschheit in Altpaläolithikum zu erweitern.

Conard, N.J., Serangeli, J., Bigga, G., Rots, V. 2020. A 300,000-year-old throwing stick from Schöningen, northern Germany, documents the evolution of human hunting. Nature Ecology & Evolution. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1139-0Entdeckung eines 300.000 Jahre alten Wurfstocks | Published on Apr 20, 2020

[PlateOfShrimp]

When was the monolith? They were throwing bones back then.

[alstewartfan]

It’s about time that dog brought back the stick!

[SunkenCiv]

the rest of the paleolithic keyword sorted chrono (four topics also at the top):

• Oldest evidence of arrows found [2010]
• Palaeolithic cutlery 400 000-200 000 years ago: tiny meat-cutting tools from Qesem Cave, Israel [2010]
• 400,000 year old spears found in an German coal mine! [2010]
• Skilled hunters 300,000 years ago [2012]

  ---

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[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

The slow ones were on the menu, the original paws for the cause.

[SunkenCiv]

RattleBack -- Will spin in only one direction -- Watch as it stops itself & reverses direction!

[JohnnyP]

They were not using these to harvest “healthy grains”, etc.

Carnivore, for the win!

[Reily]

They’re using it to control their turnip herds!

[moovova]

“Experiments show that throwing sticks of this size reach maximum speeds of 30 meters per second.”

That’s not the 3000 ft/sec you’d get out of today’s AR...but I sure wouldn’t want to get hit by a stick traveling at 30 meters/sec.

[moovova]

I buy those by the bottle...

[alstewartfan]

You are quite the port, Sir.

[Cold Heart]

I know I have said this before, but, It’s the Paws that refreshes.

[SunkenCiv]

Using these throwing sticks were commonplace in Europe, and were naturally used against attackers -- thus the origin of the term "honky-tonk".

[R.I.P. Johnny Hart]

[Migraine]

There is not the slightest chance that wood survives, buried, in wood form, 300,000 years. They need to revise their dates by a lot.

[Dutch Boy]

That reminds me of the old joke.

Q: What so you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back?
A: A stick.

[varon]

Using these throwing sticks were commonplace in Europe,

Common practice in 'bride hunting'.....

[usurper]

They need to revise their dates by a lot.

That's what I was thinking, just looks an old stick to me.

[DesertRhino]

Wood is organic material, it can be tested.

[Colt1851Navy]

We used to throw other sailors around in bar fights in the 60’s, maybe this is why.