ArticlePloS one2013
Earliest stone-tipped projectiles from the Ethiopian rift date to >279,000 years ago.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 10 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Arrow heads at Obi-Rakhmat (Uzbekistan) 80 ka ago?PloS one · 2025Article
- Terminal ballistic analysis of impact fractures reveals the use of spearthrower 31 ky ago at Maisières-Canal, Belgium.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators.PloS one · 2022Article
- Why did hunting weapon design change at Abri Pataud? Lithic use-wear data on armature use and hafting around 24,000-22,000 BP.PloS one · 2022Article
- Testing inter-observer error under a collaborative research framework for studying lithic shape variability.Archaeological and anthropological sciences · 2022Article
- Homo sapiens lithic technology and microlithization in the South Asian rainforest at Kitulgala Beli-lena (c. 45 - 8,000 years ago).PloS one · 2022Article
- Article
- A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans.Nature communications · 2016Article
- Correction: Earliest stone-tipped projectiles from the Ethiopian Rift date to >279,000 years ago.PloS one · 2015Article
- An experimental investigation of the functional hypothesis and evolutionary advantage of stone-tipped spears.PloS one · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Projectile weapons (i.e. those delivered from a distance) enhanced prehistoric hunting efficiency by enabling higher impact delivery and hunting of a broader range of animals while reducing confrontations with dangerous prey species. Projectiles therefore provided a significant advantage over thrusting spears. Composite projectile technologies are considered indicative of complex behavior and pivotal to the successful spread of Homo sapiens. Direct evidence for such projectiles is thus far unknown from >80,000 years ago. Data from velocity-dependent microfracture features, diagnostic damage patterns, and artifact shape reported here indicate that pointed stone artifacts from Ethiopia were used as projectile weapons (in the form of hafted javelin tips) as early as >279,000 years ago. In combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, these data isolate eastern Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology.
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