A recent study has challenged the long-held belief that ancient humans hunted mammoths by throwing spears. Instead, researchers suggest that Ice Age hunters employed a more innovative and effective technique using pikes.
The research, published in the journal Plos One, proposes that hunters 15,024 years ago used long sticks made of bone or wood with sharpened rocks, known as Clovis points, attached to the tip. Rather than throwing these weapons, they would plant one end into the ground, creating a formidable pike that could inflict significant damage on charging animals.
This pike hunting method utilized the mass and speed of the charging animal against itself, generating more than ten times the force of a thrust spear. Jun Sunseri, associate professor of anthropology at the University of California Berkeley and co-author of the study, explained:
"The kind of energy that you can generate with the human arm is nothing like the kind of energy generated by a charging animal. It's an order of magnitude different. These spears were engineered to do what they're doing to protect the user."
The Clovis culture, named after distinctive stone tools found near Clovis, New Mexico, flourished between 13,200 to 12,900 years ago. Their hunting techniques were likely adapted to target various megafauna species during a period of massive environmental change in Late Pleistocene North America.
To test their theory, the researchers conducted experimental studies focusing on pike-hunting techniques. They built a test platform to measure the force a spear system could withstand before breaking or expanding. This allowed them to analyze how different spears reached their breaking points and how the expansion system responded.
The study also reviewed historical evidence of pike use in hunting and warfare, spanning from Alexander the Great's battles in the 4th century BCE to 19th-century Russian bear hunting and 16th-century cavalry warfare. This historical context provided additional support for the effectiveness of pike-based hunting strategies.
Scott Byram, the study's lead author, emphasized the significance of this discovery: "This ancient Native American design was an amazing innovation in hunting strategies. This distinctive indigenous technology is providing a window into hunting and survival techniques used for millennia throughout much of the world."
The researchers plan to further test their theory by constructing a replica mammoth to simulate an attack with a planted Clovis-tipped pike. This experiment aims to provide more insights into how these ancient hunters might have taken down massive, fast-moving animals like the Columbian mammoth, which could reach heights of up to 14 feet at the shoulder and weigh up to 10 tons.
This new understanding of prehistoric hunting techniques not only sheds light on the ingenuity of ancient humans but also contributes to our knowledge of how they adapted to and survived in challenging environments during the Late Pleistocene epoch, which ended about 11,700 years ago.