Wednesday, January 7, 2026

60,000 year old Poison tip arrowheads proof San Bushmen ancient hunting

 Five quartz-backed microliths from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter. They were found with traces of buphandrine and epibuphanisine alkaloid toxins....
The Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is
a crucial archaeological site known for its long sequence of Middle and Later Stone Age (MSA-LSA) deposits

That proof has now arrived. In a study published in Science Advances,¹ Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg, and Marlize Lombard report chemical traces of toxic plant compounds still clinging to 60,000-year-old arrowheads.

“This is the oldest direct evidence that humans used arrow poison,” said Lombard. “It shows that our ancestors not only invented the bow and arrow much earlier than previously thought, but also understood how to use nature’s chemistry to increase hunting efficiency.”...

 article

 The plant, known locally as Bushman poison bulb, is still in use by traditional hunters who extract its milky sap and make it into a paste to apply to their arrows. For larger animals such as the eland, a type of antelope, the poison can take hours or days to take effect.

 

 

 

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