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Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64 000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Marlize Lombard  and
Laurel Phillipson
Marlize Lombard
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa (Email: mlombard@uj.ac.za)
Laurel Phillipson
Affiliation:
11 Brooklyn, Threshfield, North Yorkshire, BD23 5ER, UK (Email: dw.l.phillipson@btinternet.com)
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Abstract

The invention of the bow and arrow was a pivotal moment in the human story and its earliest use is a primary quarry of the modern researcher. Since the organic parts of the weapon – wood, bone, cord and feathers – very rarely survive, the deduction that a bow and arrow was in use depends heavily on the examination of certain classes of stone artefacts and their context. Here the authors apply rigorous analytical reasoning to the task, and demonstrate that, conforming to their exacting checklist, is an early assemblage from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which therefore suggests bow and arrow technology in use there 64 millennia ago.

Keywords

AfricaSibudu CavePleistocenebow and arrowhunting technologylithicsHowiesons Poortuse-tracesresidues
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 325 , September 2010 , pp. 635 - 648
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2010

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