US EditionWorld’s Oldest Poisoned Arrows Discovered in SA, Dating Back 60,000 Years
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8 Articles
A group of archaeologists have identified traces of two toxic vegetable alkaloids — bufandrine and epibufanisine — on two prehistoric arrowheads found in Umhlatuzana, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Known as back-up microliths, the artifacts were excavated in deposits dating back to about 60,000 years, which places the use of poisoned weapons in the Late Pleistocene."This is the earliest direct evidence that humans used arrow poison," says Profe…
Arrowheads found in South Africa, which are about 60,000 years old, are the oldest known evidence of the use of poison weapons in human history. Scientists believe that hunter-gatherers there used poisonous plants to help stun their prey.
60000-year-old poison arrows from South Africa are the oldest poison weapons ever discovered
A closeup of the five arrowheads from Umhlatuzana rock shelter with two plant toxins. (Scale = 5 mm). The inset shows all 10 archaeological artifacts analyzed.Five quartz arrowheads found in a South African cave were laced with a slow-acting tumbleweed poison that would have tired prey during long hunts.A handful of 60,000-year-old arrow tips unearthed in a South African rock shelter are the oldest evidence of poison weapons in the world, a new …
60,000 years ago, well before the appearance of agriculture or metals, groups of hunters from southern Africa already controlled the use of poisons to improve their weapons. An international study, published in the journal Science Advances, reveals the presence of toxic residues on arrow tips discovered in the rocky shelter of Umhlatuzana, South Africa. The analysis, conducted by researchers from Stockholm University, the University of Johannesb…
Scientists have detected vegetal toxins on rats from the Pietria Age, used by South Africa's fellow hunters, some 60,000 years ago, reported CNN. The team...
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