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Ballistics of Pleistocene Hand-Thrown Spears (Read 1213 times)
Shale
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Ballistics of Pleistocene Hand-Thrown Spears
Jan 27th, 2019 at 6:41pm
 
I came across an interesting paper on the ballistics of the 300 000 year old Schoeningen spears. These spears were long believed to be primarily thrusting weapons, but the paper presents evidence that they were also capable of being thrown effectively.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37904-w
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Shale

As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool. (Proverbs 26.8)
 
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Curious Aardvark
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Re: Ballistics of Pleistocene Hand-Thrown Spears
Reply #1 - Jan 28th, 2019 at 6:26am
 
heard it on the radio yesterday.

The thing that gets me is that previously - despite nobody ever doing thrown spear trials with anyone who knew what they were doing - they'd assumed neanderthals - who's brains were larger than ours - did not know how to throw  spears.

seriously ????

It's this kind of nonsense that makes me wonder what kind of person becomes a historian.
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Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
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Kick
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Re: Ballistics of Pleistocene Hand-Thrown Spears
Reply #2 - Jan 28th, 2019 at 1:01pm
 
Well it's the old "ritual purposes" problem. You have people that have very fixed ideas of history and fit the evidence to their beliefs and then pass on that belief very confidently rather than actually look at the evidence and reconstruct from there.
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Curious Aardvark
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Re: Ballistics of Pleistocene Hand-Thrown Spears
Reply #3 - Jan 29th, 2019 at 7:08am
 
on the positive side - that's exactly why we did the hillfort sling trials Smiley
I enjoyed that Thumbs Up

some idiot believed that ancient britons would dig two 20 foot deep, 1 mile long trenches around the top of a very steep hill - as a community bonding exercise.
How do people like that even get a degree ? Let alone a doctorate ? 
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Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
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Bill Skinner
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Re: Ballistics of Pleistocene Hand-Thrown Spears
Reply #4 - Feb 10th, 2019 at 11:26am
 
By writing papers about how communities would bond by digging mile long ditches around a hill.  Really.

I work with Archies all the time.  Google Moundville, Al sometimes.  Now, the theory is that at its peak, there were 15,000 to 25,000 people living there.  In about a square mile.
So, if you want to stump an Archie, ask them how the people there disposed of their sewage.  They had to have some way, and they didn't dump it in the rivers, they still weren't doing that when the first Europeans got here 900 years later.  Which was why their immune systems were not prepared for all the water borne diseases that the Europeans brought with them.

But when you ask an Archie, they'll say that that isn't important.  Then they will start talking about the ceremonies and the religious practices.  Which is what got everyone to start collecting in large groups.  Then ask they why the Indians built the mounds.
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