by Shekinah Quinnett-Cook

Created on: February 03, 2011   Last Updated: February 07, 2011

Since the dawn of creation, man has been in relentless pursuit of sustainability. From early Hunter-Gatherer cultures to modern Agrarian societies, humankind has fashioned for itself tools by which to proliferate natural resources. No tool has impacted human culture more than that of early edged weapons. Whether a flint tipped spear, or an arrow thrown from an Atlatl, early man discovered creative ways to limit his exposure to danger while maximizing his ability to acquire needed materials for his continued survival. Little is understood concerning the origins of early mankind, yet the most basic question researched by modern archaeologists is what lead to the transition between the thrusting spear and the projectile?

Archaeological evidence discovered in Germany documents the use of wooden spears at least 400,000 years ago for hunting. Early hunters used flint, or other stone-tipped spear points after they discovered that these materials were more resistant to damage and able to be knapped, producing an extremely sharp point and edges. Stone replaced sharpened wooden-tipped spears in most of Europe and Africa by 250,000 B.C. These middle Paleolithic peoples began to be more artistic and complex in their designs and more elaborate in their means of creating these edged weapons. Before the Magdalenian period discernible differences remained between spears constructed for throwing and those built for thrusting.

Around the middle Paleolithic period the Atlatl became the primary used tool to throw the specially designed projectile or dart. The earliest discovered atlatl is a 17,500-year old Solutrean piece made of reindeer horn discovered in France by archaeologists. With the decline of the middle Paleolithic period and the beginning of the Epi-Paleolithic, or upper Paleolithic period, the Atlatl was replaced by the bow and arrow as the primary tool for propelling projectiles across areas with precision and force. This advancement and its status was mostly due to the fact that the projectiles could be smaller due to the physics involved in their use and thus consume fewer resources and require less time to construct.

The bow and arrow became the most widely used hunting and defensive tool of early man by 16,000 B.C. This tool was taken along migratory paths, across ice bridges, and even altered to suit the needs of a rapidly heating climate due to the decline of the ice age. Its construction was changed and the material used adapted with reference to the natural

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