science

15026 readers

197 users here now

A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.

rule #1: be kind

<--- rules currently under construction, see current pinned post.

2024-11-11

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

263

Instead of Thrown, Spears Were Planted in the Ground to Kill a Charging Mammoth (www.discovermagazine.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

67 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I would posit string being the real game changer. How do you think they got the stone on the end of a stick?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Honest answer, usually animal sinew, or certain grasses could be used as well. The nice thing with string, once it was figured out was you could make as much as you could, and make it as long as you wanted.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

I totally count sinew as string. That probably led to plant string. Think about really fine string, or thread, and think about how many miles of it you carry around on you every day. It's crazy how taken for granted it is!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

How do you think they got the stone on the end of a stick

For a long time, they didn't.

Hand stone tools predate everything except sharpened sticks as spears.

Without the Olduvai tools, we have no civilization.