6,500-Year-Old Hunting Kit Recovered from Texas Cave

Archaeology Magazine ^ | April 8, 2025 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine, 6,500-year-old objects found deep within a cave in West Texas may comprise the oldest nearly-intact weapons kit recovered in North America. The wooden and stone tools were collected by a team of archaeologists from Sul Ross State University and the University of Kansas over the past several years from San Esteban Rockshelter near Marfa. Several thousand years ago, an Indigenous hunter sat by a fire in the cave and evaluated the state of their weapons, making repairs to some and discarding others. Their arsenal consisted of a throwing spear, a boomerang, and several wooden poisoned-tipped darts and stone projectiles. "A person came to the back of the cave and went through their hunting gear piece by piece: 'This is good. This is not good. I need to remake this leather pouch a little bit.' And then they went on their way," Center for Big Bend Studies archaeologist Bryon Schroeder said. "But that one small act is going to have profound implications in understanding a wide range of topics, including the environment." The team also found a neatly folded antelope hide nearby.

[SunkenCiv]

Probably just died. Everyone leaves behind a bunch of things unfinished.

[21twelve]

Yeah - it looks like a bunch of little sticks.

However, zooming in on the antelope hide there is a tuft of hair. I made a guess that the hair is 2 inches long based on old memories of fly-tying with white tail deer hair. So the longest stick is perhaps around 14 to 16 inches long??

[SunkenCiv]

https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2025/mar/scout26_texcetera/

Four dart nock ends: These contain shallow cups that fit against the actual throwing device, an atlatl. These were all broken in the same place.

Straight flying boomerang: One of the oldest-known finds of these lethal weapons, this device is deadlier than its early name – rabbit stick – would imply.

Six stone-tipped foreshafts: These connect knapped stone points to atlatl dart main shafts and are easily replaced, making a modular and repairable weapon. Stone points are still embedded in two foreshafts, broken bases of points in others.

Four hardwood foreshafts: These long wooden tips might have been used for poison delivery.

Partial atlatl or spear-thrower: This was considered the oldest in North America until a slightly older (30 years) atlatl was found in Utah. Devin Pettigrew, CBBS assistant professor, has made replicas to test in the field to see how it might have been used for hunting and warfare.

[TigersEye]

Everyone leaves behind a bunch of things unfinished.

You got me there. You can underline, bold and highlight 'bunch' in my case.

I'm still tryin' though! lol

[Neanderthal]

"evaluated the state of their his weapons, . . .

Their His arsenal consisted of a throwing spear, . . .

A person came to the back of the cave and went through their his hunting gear . . ."

*********************************************

Stop with the caveman political correctness!!!

[Nachoman]

Could he be a remnant of the Clovis people?

[Revel]

So it was found in a place called the San Esteban Rockshelter. I was trying to find more on the cave. But I don’t find much information on it. It does not sound like have any really deep caves there. But it would be interesting to know more about the geography of the cave.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Doctor Congo]

I thought only Australian aborigines used the boomerang but I just learned it was somewhat universal. From wikipedia:

Although traditionally thought of as Australian, boomerangs have been found also in ancient Europe, Egypt, and North America. There is evidence of the use of non-returning boomerangs by the Native Americans of California and Arizona, and inhabitants of South India for killing birds and rabbits. Some boomerangs were not thrown at all, but were used in hand to hand combat by Indigenous Australians. Ancient Egyptian examples, however, have been recovered, and experiments have shown that they functioned as returning boomerangs. Hunting sticks discovered in Europe seem to have formed part of the Stone Age arsenal of weapons. One boomerang that was discovered in Obłazowa Cave in the Carpathian Mountains in Poland was made of mammoth’s tusk and is believed, based on AMS dating of objects found with it, to be about 30,000 years old. In the Netherlands, boomerangs have been found in Vlaardingen and Velsen from the first century BC. King Tutankhamun owned a collection of boomerangs of both the straight flying (hunting) and returning variety.

[Openurmind]

“Could he be a remnant of the Clovis people?”

Judging by the point I would say middle archaic as the article suggests. Clovis would have been much earlier.

[Openurmind]

Great additional information! I was thinking all the same as I zoomed in and looked at the collection. The only one I question is the poison delivery theory.

I’m thinking the hardwood foreshafts were also for smaller game like Rabbits. Since broad points are designed to slice a bigger wound in larger animals so that the prey bleeds out faster this would really not be needed for smaller game. Using a broad point would be like shooting a Rabbit with a 12 gauge slug, kind of overkill and more so an unnecessary risk of breaking a valuable point.

[Openurmind]

A Rockshelter usually just indicates some sort of overhang to somewhat get out of the sun and rain not necessarily a cave.

https://kgs.ku.edu/san-esteban-rockshelter

But with that said... Sounds like you are interested in Geology. I am too and I question that representative image as the true shelter location. Looking at that wash running next to it I'm pretty sure that torrential flash floods would have washed that away several thousand years ago and the original shelter overhang would not still be there as shown. Over 6500 years time it would have cut into that wall at least 50ft or more. I think they are not representing the true location as to protect it from vandals and pot hunters from digging around. It is a common practice to misrepresent the true location in images of digs like this.

[sit-rep]

the hair on the skin...

[odawg]

How can anyone see a weapon in that? Looks more like a sewing kit.

[Lakeshark]

Rumors are they found a fire pit there, with empty vessels that once contained ancient mead as well.

They somehow missed a copy of the original lyrics mentioning the second week of deer camp, but it was skillfully hidden.......

[Openurmind]

Here is something interesting in the Site Summary...

“In the summer of 2020, Odyssey continued testing at the San Esteban Rockshelter, opening up a new excavation area deeper into the shelter and between fallen boulders. The 2020 excavations in the “Sandal Shaft” revealed intact sedimentary and archaeological deposits that span the Holocene and may date back to ca. 15,000 years ago. Also recovered in the Sandal Shaft were six atlatl foreshafts and darts dating to ca. 6,200 cal yr B.P., potentially representing the earliest atlatl cache in the Americas. More significantly, >a hearth-like feature containing burned and unburned bird eggshells dated to ca. 15,200 cal yr B.P., suggesting potential for a pre-Clovis occupation.< Block B was expanded, revealing more intact deposits dating from the post Euro-American contact period to the Late Archaic.”

https://kgs.ku.edu/san-esteban-rockshelter

[Openurmind]

The stone point is at least approx 2” long by 1-1/2” wide, probably bigger.

[Openurmind]

“boomerang?................”

Know what guys? The more I look at that the more it looks like a Fire Bow rather than a throwing stick.

[norwaypinesavage]

"The tools were made by one or more humans and used for hunting. "

You can't rule out that he might have been an MS13 gang member and used them to extort food from the locals.

[Openurmind]

I would judge it by the size of the stone dart point. I have quite a few of those in my collection from different areas in the Southwest. I’m guessing it is most likely around 2” long by 1-1/2 wide.