{"id":244828,"date":"2025-05-17T06:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T06:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/nimble-minded-neanderthals-may-have-used-these-wooden-spears-to-hunt-200000-years-ago\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T06:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T06:47:07","slug":"nimble-minded-neanderthals-may-have-used-these-wooden-spears-to-hunt-200000-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=244828","title":{"rendered":"Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeople<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n \"Sarah\n <\/div>\n
\n

\n

Sarah Kuta<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Spears
\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>
\n

The\u00a0Sch\u00f6ningen spears on display in Germany
\n Julian Stratenschulte \/ Picture Alliance via Getty Images<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the 1990s, archaeologists working near the German town of Sch\u00f6ningen made a remarkable find: a set of well-preserved\u00a0wooden spears<\/a> crafted from spruce and pine, along with stone tools and the butchered remains of more than 50 horses.<\/p>\n

Researchers initially thought the Sch\u00f6ningen\u00a0spears<\/a> were around 400,000 years old and later revised that estimate to roughly 300,000 years old. They suspected the spears\u2014which are among the oldest known complete hunting weapons\u2014belonged to an early human ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now, however, they\u2019re revising the timeline once again: According to a new paper published in the journal\u00a0Science Advances<\/em><\/a>, the spears are around 200,000 years old\u2014much younger than previously thought.<\/p>\n

The new date suggests the weapons may have belonged to Neanderthals, instead of H. heidelbergensis.<\/em> This theory makes sense to some researchers because, around the same time, Neanderthals were starting to exhibit more complex behaviors, like making stone tools and deploying sophisticated hunting tactics. During this period, known as the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals also began living longer, which suggests that they benefited from these lifestyle and behavior advancements.<\/p>\n

Based on the horse remains found at the site, it appears that hunters cleverly trapped them near the edge of a prehistoric lake. Researchers think the spears were carefully hand-made by skilled craftspeople.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey offer compelling evidence of sophisticated hunting strategies which would have required better cognitive abilities and the development of more complex communication, planning and social structures,\u201d says lead author Jarod Hutson<\/a>, an archaeologist at Germany\u2019s Leibniz Zentrum f\u00fcr Arch\u00e4ologie, in a\u00a0statement<\/a>. \u201cThe updated timeline for Sch\u00f6ningen now aligns it with a growing number of sites which together indicate a significant leap in early human hunting capabilities during this period.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the spears were created and used by humans\u2019 closest prehistoric relatives, this revelation would add to the growing body of evidence that \u201cNeanderthal brain development and social structure were more advanced than previously believed,\u201d writes Austin Harvey of All That\u2019s Interesting<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, not everyone is confident of the new date\u2014or the theory that the spears belonged to Neanderthals.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the moment, I find the arguments interesting, but not absolutely convincing,\u201d says\u00a0Thomas Terberger<\/a>, an archaeologist at the University of G\u00f6ttingen in Germany who wasn\u2019t involved with the research, to the\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>\u2019 Adithi Ramakrishnan.<\/p>\n

To determine the new timeline, researchers analyzed fossilized freshwater snail shells found in the same layer of dirt as the spears. They honed in on amino acids that were locked in the shells by tiny \u201ctrapdoors\u201d called opercula. Because amino acids break down at predictable rates, researchers could use them to estimate the age of the fossils.<\/p>\n

This method is known as amino acid geochronology. It\u2019s one of the tools researchers have at their disposal for dating artifacts, along with\u00a0radiocarbon dating<\/a>, which measures the amount of radioactive carbon-14 present in organic materials, and\u00a0luminescence dating<\/a>, which measures the last time sediments were exposed to sunlight. Even with such techniques, however, precisely estimating the age of artifacts can be challenging.<\/p>\n

Anything scientists can do to narrow down the timeframe helps make historic sites \u201cmore useful for answering archaeological questions about human evolution and cultural development,\u201d says study co-author Kirsty Penkman<\/a>, a geochemist at the University of York in England, to\u00a0Science<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Andrew Curry.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n