Traces of poison on ancient arrowheads provide fascinating insights into our ancestors’ hunting techniques. Recent research reveals that around 60,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers in Africa used toxic plants to enhance their weaponry. This discovery, published in Science Advances, sheds light on the advanced skills of early humans.
Marlize Lombard, an archaeologist from the University of Johannesburg, compares making poisoned arrows to following a complex recipe. It involves safety precautions and strategic planning to avoid self-harm while hunting. Justin Bradfield, another archaeologist from the same university, emphasizes that this evidence showcases a sophisticated level of reasoning and planning in ancient populations.
Historically, scientists believe that humans began using poisons alongside projectile weapons about 70,000–60,000 years ago. Many stone tools from this time are too small to inflict lethal damage without a toxic element. Alarmingly, direct evidence of these poisons has been rare, partly because many decompose over millennia.
A team, led by Sven Isaksson from Stockholm University, examined some ancient stones called microliths from the Umhlatuzana rock shelter in South Africa. Their analysis found a toxic compound called buphandrine on several pieces. This substance comes from a native plant known as Boophone disticha or poison bulb. Even a small dose can be deadly to small animals like rats and can cause severe reactions in humans.
Interestingly, the team also discovered traces of buphandrine on arrowheads collected by an ethnographer in the 1700s. This suggests that indigenous hunters in South Africa may have used similar techniques throughout history, targeting animals like springbok and kudu.
Buphandrine isn’t the only potential poison that ancient hunters might have used. There may have been other toxins, like venoms from snakes or spiders, that didn’t survive the test of time. Isaksson’s previous research on arrowheads dating back 1,000 years helped identify the kinds of plant compounds that could withstand the ages.
This intriguing blend of archaeology and chemistry reshapes our understanding of early human life. It highlights how much we can learn from the past and how innovative our ancestors truly were. For further reading on this topic, check out detailed studies in Science Advances.
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Archaeology,Evolution,Science,Humanities and Social Sciences,multidisciplinary
