5 Questions
What is the oldest known intact bow found in Europe?
11,000 years ago
What did the researchers compare the Grotte Mandrin stone points to?
Replicas of the artifacts
What is the maximum width of the smallest Grotte Mandrin points?
10 millimeters
What kind of hunting was more energy efficient according to the text?
Modern human hunting
What is the ultimate fate of Neandertals still a mystery?
Whether they had the brainpower for hunting
Study Notes
- Homo sapiens who reached Europe around 54,000 years ago introduced bows and arrows to that continent.
- Bow hunting [at Grotte Mandrin] as convincingly as possible without being caught bow-in-hand was demonstrated by archaeologist Laure Metz of Aix-Marseille University in France and colleagues.
- No bows were found at the site.
- Wooden items such as bows preserve poorly.
- The oldest intact bows, found in northern European bogs, date to around 11,000 years ago.
- Previous stone and bone point discoveries suggest that bow-and-arrow hunting originated in Africa between about 80,000 and 60,000 years ago.
- And previously recovered fossil teeth indicate that H. sapiens visited Grotte Mandrin as early as 56,800 years ago, well before Neandertals’ demise around 40,000 years ago.
- We’ve shown that the earliest known Homo sapiens to migrate into Neandertal territories had mastered the use of the bow.
- No evidence suggests that Neandertals already present in Europe at that time launched arrows at prey.
- It’s also unclear whether archery provided any substantial hunting advantages to H. sapiens relative to spears that were thrust or thrown by Neandertals.
- Among 852 stone artifacts excavated in a H. sapiens sediment layer at Grotte Mandrin dated to about 54,000 years ago, 196 triangular stone points displayed high-impact damage.
- Another 15 stone points showed signs of both high-impact damage and alterations caused by butchery activities, such as cutting.
- Comparisons of those finds were made to damage on stone replicas of the artifacts that the researchers used as arrowheads shot from bows and as the tips of spears inserted in handheld throwing devices.
- Additional comparative evidence came from stone and bone arrowheads used by recent and present-day hunting groups.
- Impact damage along the edges of stone points from the French site indicated that these implements had been attached at the bottom to shafts.
- The smallest Grotte Mandrin points, many with a maximum width of no more than 10 millimeters, could have pierced animals’ hides only when shot from bows as the business ends of arrows, the researchers say.
- Larger stone points, some of them several times the size of the smaller points, could have been arrowheads or might have tipped spears that were thrown or thrust by hand or launched from handheld spear throwers.
- Neandertals were not as energy efficient as modern humans when it came to hunting, and this may have led to their extinction.
- Neandertals may not have had the brainpower necessary to hunt with bows and arrows, which may have contributed to their demise.
- The ultimate fate of Neandertals is still a mystery.
In this quiz, you will be asked to answer questions about the bow and arrow. You will learn about when the bow and arrow were first used, what advantages the bow and arrow had over other forms of hunting, and how the use of the bow and arrow may have contributed to the demise of Neandertals.
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