Throwing Spears - Prehistory

Prehistory

There is archaeological evidence that javelins and throwing sticks were already in use during the last phase of the lower Paleolithic. Seven spear-like objects were found in a coal mine in the city of Schöningen, Germany. Stratigraphic dating indicates that the weapons are about 400,000 years old. The excavated items were made of spruce (Picea) trunk and were between 1.83 and 2.25 metres long. They were manufactured with the maximum thickness and weight situated at the front end of the wooden shaft. The frontal centre of gravity suggests that these pole weapons were used as javelins. A fossilized horse shoulder blade with a projectile wound, dated to 500,000 years ago,was revealed in a gravel quarry in the village of Boxgrove, England. Studies revealed that the wound was probably caused by a javelin.