The enemy attacks! Full-blown battles were fought at the time of the Tollund
Man. More illustrations. © Niels Bach
Among the earliest and most widespread of man's weapons is
the spear. Originally it was merely a wooden pole with one end sharpened with a
stone or piece of bone, but once palaeolithic man had discovered fire, some
500,000 years ago, charring was also used to harden and sharpen the tip. The
next stage was to insert pieces of stone or bone in order to reinforce the
point, and then to fit a stone head. From a very early period there were two
types of spear, thrusting and throwing. The throwing spear, or javelin, tended
to be lighter and in order to increase its range a device called the spear
thrower was introduced. This acted as a lever and was a piece of shaped wood,
bone or horn with a hook or recess into which the end of the spear fitted.
Two of man's other original weapons are the club and the
axe. The club was originally made of hardwood, the head being larger than the
handle. Like the tip of the spear, the head was then reinforced with stone. The
original axe was made entirely of stone, simply an almond-shaped head sharpened
by flaking. In about 3500 BC the wooden haft or handle was introduced, being
attached to the stone head by means of bent wood, horn sockets, lashing and
gum. Then, during the neolithic or New Stone Age era, 7000-2000 BC, the art of
grinding, polishing and drilling of stone was developed, which radically
increased the effectiveness of the axe, both as a tool and as a weapon of war.
The head was now often fitted to the handle by means of a circular hole drilled
through it, known as the `eye'.
Perhaps surprisingly, the bow was already in existence
around 15000 BC. It was first developed by the Mediterranean civilizations, and
was taken up in northern Europe during the ninth millennium. From the start,
yew, because of its good tensile characteristics, was the preferred wood,
although in colder climates, where yew did not grow, elm and occasionally pine
were used. Most bows were man-sized, and by the third millennium the composite
bow, strengthened with horn and sinews, was in use in some regions. The string
was normally made with plaited leather strips. Stone arrowheads were used, and
the arrow itself was straightened by passing it through a hole drilled in bone
or horn. In order to obtain arrows of standard size-important in terms of
accuracy-they were shaved by means of a hollow tube cut as grooves in a split
stone. The other basic weapon was the slingshot, a spherically shaped stone
which was projected from a leather sling, which the firer whirled above his
head in a circular motion in order to impart increased velocity to the stone.
Late Ice Age hunting
technology
Knecht's (1994) study of the evolution of Upper Palaeolithic
projectile points has shown in detail how people adapted to the ice age
environment and to the animals available for hunting. It has also demonstrated
advanced conceptual abilities among these people and an acute awareness of the
physical properties of the raw materials that were available. Knecht was able
to illustrate technological progress towards more efficient, flexible spears.
Another major consideration in the gradual changes in material and design was
the ease of repair whilst away from camp. She also carried out experiments
using a goat carcass to test the velocity and efficiency of the spearpoints as
hunting weapons. Her findings corroborate those from Stellmoor. Flint points
propelled by bow, spear-thrower or unaided human muscles were formidable
weapons, capable of penetrating animal tissue and bone. The hunting of large,
dangerous prey could be carried out effectively and more safely from a
distance.
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