Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S2, Canada.
Science. 2012 Nov 16;338(6109):942-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1227608.
Hafting stone points to spears was an important advance in weaponry for early humans. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that ~500,000-year-old stone points from the archaeological site of Kathu Pan 1 (KP1), South Africa, functioned as spear tips. KP1 points exhibit fracture types diagnostic of impact. Modification near the base of some points is consistent with hafting. Experimental and metric data indicate that the points could function well as spear tips. Shape analysis demonstrates that the smaller retouched points are as symmetrical as larger retouched points, which fits expectations for spear tips. The distribution of edge damage is similar to that in an experimental sample of spear tips and is inconsistent with expectations for cutting or scraping tools. Thus, early humans were manufacturing hafted multicomponent tools ~200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
用于矛的石矛头是早期人类武器的重要进步。多条证据表明，南非 Kathu Pan 1（KP1）考古遗址的约 50 万年前的石矛头起到了矛头的作用。KP1 矛头呈现出与撞击相关的断裂类型。一些矛头基部附近的修饰痕迹与安装矛头有关。实验和度量数据表明，这些矛头可以很好地作为矛头使用。形状分析表明，较小的锐化矛头与较大的锐化矛头一样对称，这符合矛头的预期。边缘损伤的分布与实验样本中的矛头相似，与切割或刮削工具的预期不一致。因此，早期人类制造了带有矛头的多组件工具，比之前认为的早了约 20 万年。
