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MythBusters Solve the Mystery of Stone Age ArrowheadsWere they a technological achievement? |
By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor
26th of June 2007, 08:12 GMT
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When they found some odd looking stones dated tens of thousands of years ago, archaeologists already made a picture of the way people lived during Stone Age. Early people left a lot of projectile points made of stone which must have been affixed to arrow and spear shafts. Are those stones really projectile points? Which were the technological advantages or disadvantages of an arrowhead?
Two anthropologists of the University of Wyoming, Nicole Waguespack and Todd Surovell, started to question the purpose of arrowheads, long accepted as a main component of prehistoric weaponry.
"The concept that projectile points were used to advance
hunting has been perpetuated throughout history, but wasn't based on any meaningful evidence," they said.
"The importance of the arrowhead was a myth, so-to-speak," said Waguespack.
"Archaeologists are absolutely obsessed with (projectile points). They are some of the prettiest things we find from the Stone Age and exemplify some of the more difficult objects to make. Nicole proposed that perhaps you didn't even need an arrowhead because a sharpened wooden arrow would do the trick. In fact, attaching the chipped stone projectile point to the end of an arrow adds more work to the production of the arrow," Surrovell declared.
"It sounds really fundamental, but no one has ever explained why the projectile point makes an arrow or a thrown spear so much more effective. Is it the weight? Is it the fact it has a better cutting edge? We find (arrowheads) all over the world in all times and places. It seems like a very basic question and archaeologists should know why everyone made them." Waguespack added.
They thought that maybe Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the hosts of the "MythBusters", a successful show where truth is separated from urban legend, could light up the issue.
"It became very clear to us that this experiment was a pretty simple thing for them to do, they had all of the necessary equipment," said Surovell.
So, they contacted Hyneman and two weeks later, they were making the experiments in San Francisco.
"For the show, Adam sharpened arrow shafts and Jamie tried to make a chipped stone projectile point. They timed each process, and discussed the fact that the pointy stick was a lot easier and faster to make," said Waguespack.
The team shot arrows with and without arrowheads into a ballistics gel torso, with a consistence similar to the tissues of an animal. A rig was employed to shoot the bow automatically with controlled draw tension and the penetration of each shot was accounted.
"The segment might serve a dual purpose: to resolve the questions about arrowheads' significance to prehistoric cultures, and to peak public interest in archeology. We are trying to figure out how these things fit into the technological repertoire of prehistoric peoples." Waguespeak pointed out.
To see if the superiority of an arrowhead is a myth or a fact, watch MythBusters or search on discovery.com to find out when you can watch the show.
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