Did Pleistocene Africans use the spearthrower-and-dart?

Abstract

Archeologists commonly suppose that among complex projectile weapons humans use as subsistence aids, the spearthrower-and-dart preceded bow-and-arrow use. And yet, neither ethnographic nor archeological records furnish any robust evidence for spearthrower-and-dart use in Africa. Instead, evidence grows apace for ever-more ancient bow-and-arrow use. Here we explore these findings and their implications for models of early Homo sapiens behavior.

Keywords: Africa; bow-and-arrow; dart versus bow hunting; hunting weapons; spearthrower-and-dart.