Researchers have developed a new theory that explains how early humans may have used sharpened Clovis points to hunt megafauna such as mammoths and mastodons about 13,000 years ago.
Instead of throwing spears or stabbing these giant creatures, researchers suspect that early humans used a less practical strategy when hunting. They rested the end of the spear against the ground and pointed the weapon upward to impale attacking animals.
The enormous force of the animal’s movement drove the spear deeper into its body, causing a devastating wound – worse than even the strongest prehistoric hunters could inflict alone.
Hunting with implanted spears
Using various historical writings and works of art, the archaeologists examined evidence from all over the world of hunting with implanted spears.
The experts also conducted the first experimental study to examine how stone weapons, such as Clovis points, respond to the force of an approaching animal when used in pike hunting.
The results showed that once the sharp stone penetrated the flesh, the spear’s engineered retention system was activated, causing the spearhead to behave like a modern hollow-point projectile and causing severe injuries to creatures such as mastodons, bison and saber-toothed cats.
The study’s lead author, Scott Byram, is an expert at UC Berkeley’s Archaeological Research Facility.
“This ancient Native American design was an amazing innovation in hunting strategy,” said Byram. “This unique indigenous technology offers insight into hunting and survival techniques that have been used for thousands of years across much of the world.”
Clovis points used by early humans for hunting
The study sheds light on the long-standing debate among archaeologists about how North American communities used Clovis points, which are among the most commonly found Ice Age artifacts.
Named after Clovis in New Mexico, where the first of these stone tools were discovered almost a century ago, Clovis points were made from rocks such as chert, flint or jasper.
These tools range in size from a thumb to a medium-sized smartphone. They have a razor-sharp edge and serrated notches on either side of their base. Thousands have been found across the United States, some even in preserved mammoth skeletons.
Early humans used a complex system hunting
In popular culture, Clovis points have often been depicted as the tips of javelins used in hunting, as seen in video games such as Far Cry Primal and films like 10,000 BCHowever, these depictions probably oversimplify the reality of life during the Ice Age.
According to Byram and his co-author Jun Sunseri, an associate professor of anthropology at Berkeley, the Clovis points were probably part of a more complex hunting system.
The team believes that this system also included bone shafts, wooden spear bases, and bindings made of pine resin and cord – all elements that have not survived the test of time.
“You have to look beyond the simple artifact,” Jun noted. “One of the key points here is that we see this as an engineered system that requires multiple types of specializations within our field and others.”
Preservation of the valuable poles
Given the scarcity of suitable materials for making tools in some regions, it is understandable that early humans were reluctant to risk their valuable spears when hunting.
Byram has researched the historical context of pike hunting using various archival documents and suspects that these communities would probably not have thrown away their tools lightly.
“People who analyze metal military artifacts know all about it because it was used to stop horses in war,” Byram said.
“But before that, and in other contexts involving wild boar or bear hunting, it wasn’t very well known. It’s a topic that comes up quite often in the literature. But for some reason it hasn’t been talked about too much in anthropology.”
Testing the Pike Hunting Theory
To test their hypothesis about pike hunting, the Berkeley team constructed a test platform to measure the force a spear system can withstand before it breaks.
Their simple, static simulation of an animal attack using a supported Clovis spear demonstrated how the spear system responded under stress and mimicked the energy generated by an attacking animal.
“The energy you can generate with the human arm is not comparable to the energy generated by an attacking animal. It is an order of magnitude different,” said Jun. “These spears are designed to protect the wielder.”
Clovis points and traditional spears
Byram had been thinking about this idea for decades, recalling his college days when he made replicas of Clovis points and traditional spears.
The time and effort invested in these tools led him to think about their potential uses that went beyond previous assumptions.
“I started to realize that it actually had a different purpose than some of the other tools,” Byram said. “Unlike some of the notched arrowheads, it was a more massive weapon. And it was probably used for defense as well.”
Conversations between Jun, Byram and Kent Lightfoot, a retired Berkeley anthropology professor, during the early days of the pandemic sparked renewed interest in exploring this theory.
Sophisticated technology behind Clovis points
Lightfoot, who also contributed to the study, emphasized the sophisticated engineering behind Clovis technology and pointed out its importance for understanding the coexistence of early indigenous peoples with now-extinct megafauna.
“The sophisticated Clovis technology that developed independently in North America is a testament to the ingenuity and skills that early indigenous peoples demonstrated in cohabiting the primeval landscape with now-extinct megafauna,” Lightfoot said.
In the coming months, the team plans to test its theory further. To do this, it is building a replica of a mammoth and simulating what a pike attack on a huge, fast mammal might have looked like.
“Sometimes in archaeology the pieces just fit together, as now seems to be the case with Clovis technology, and that puts pike hunting at the center of extinct megafauna. It opens up a whole new perspective on how people lived with these incredible animals for much of human history,” Byram concluded.
The study was published in the journal Plus One.
—–
Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for exciting articles, exclusive content and the latest updates.
Check out EarthSnap, a free app from Eric Ralls and Earth.com.
—–
