New Study Redates Famous Schöningen Spears

SCHÖNINGEN, GERMANY—Cutting-edge technology has been used to redate the world-famous Schöningen spears that were discovered in the mid-1990s, according to a statement released by the University of York. At the time, experts estimated that 10 wooden weapons were around 400,000 or 300,000 years old, making them among the oldest hunting weapons ever found. However, scientists recently used a dating method known as amino acid geochronology, which analyzes amino acids locked in snail shells buried in sediment layers, to determine that the spears were around 100,000 years younger. This likely means that the weapons were created and wielded by Neanderthals and not an earlier human ancestor known as Homo heidelbergensis. The arsenal was found alongside the remains of around 50 butchered horses, indicating that the Neanderthals were capable of forming well-organized hunting parties where individuals undertook specific roles to ensure successful kills of larger and more challenging prey. “The Schöningen spears are so significant because, unlike older sites, they offer compelling evidence of sophisticated hunting strategies which would have required better cognitive abilities and the development of more complex communication, planning and social structures,” said researcher Jarod Hutson of the Leibniz Center for Archaeology. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. For more on the spears, go to "Weapons of the Ancient World: Hunting Equipment."