Schöningen spears

Coordinates: 52°08′14″N 10°59′18″E / 52.13722°N 10.98833°E / 52.13722; 10.98833
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Museum for the spears at the finding site
One of the spears
Schöningen mine

The Schöningen spears are a set of ten wooden weapons from the

Palaeolithic Age that were excavated between 1994 and 1999 from the 'Spear Horizon' in the open-cast lignite mine in Schöningen, Helmstedt district, Germany. The spears are the oldest hunting weapons discovered and were found together with animal bones and stone and bone tools. Being used by the oldest known group of hunters, they provided never before uncovered proof that early human ancestors were much closer to modern humans in both complex social structure and technical ability than thought before.[1][2][3][4][5] The excavations took place under the management of Hartmut Thieme
of the Lower Saxony State Service for Cultural Heritage (NLD).

Shaft section

The age of the spears, originally assessed as being between 380,000 and 400,000 years old,

marine isotope stages, MIS 11[13] (424–374 thousand years ago[14]) and MIS 9[15] (337–300 thousand years ago[14]
). The Schöningen spears thus may predate the fragmented Clacton spear point and in so represent the oldest known worked wooden implements, but surely the oldest complete wooden weapons.

To date, hominin remains have not been discovered from the Schöningen Pleistocene deposits, and therefore the species that crafted and used the wooden weapons and other tools at Schöningen remains uncertain. The most likely candidates are Homo heidelbergensis or early Neanderthals.

Middle Pleistocene
humans.

The spears are associated with animal bones, over 90% of which represent the extinct horse species Equus mosbachensis.[18]

Discovery and location

Excavation site
The littoral zone of a lake

The site of the 'Spear Horizon' (Schöningen 13 II, sedimentary sequence 4) is one of 20 Palaeolithic archaeological sites discovered during excavations from 1994 through to the present day.[19]

The 60 by 50 m (200 by 160 ft) excavation base that was excluded from coal mining represents a small segment of a former

silting
-up processes.

The find horizon was preserved through rapid sedimentation of a lakeshore which itself resulted from the retreat of the Elsterian ice sheet.

DFG (German Research Association) since 2010. A southern extension of Schöningen 13 II-4 has been excavated since 2011.[25]

The site was originally interpreted by the initial excavator, Hartmut Thieme, as a single mass hunting event. According to his scenario, the thick reeds at the lake shore gave the hunters cover, from where the horses, trapped between the hunters and the lake, were culled with accurate spear throws. Because there are bones of young animals among the horse bones, he concluded that the hunt took place in autumn. Furthermore, he saw evidence of ritualistic activity, because the spears were left behind.[26] Subsequent research on the horse remains have demonstrated that in fact the prey died in different seasons, showing the site was revisited repeatedly by humans.[27][28]

Many of the archaeological remains, including most of the spears, are on display at the Forschungsmuseum Schöningen [de] in Schöningen.

Description and function

A spear in situ

Most of the spears were made using trunks of slow-growing spruce trees, except for spear IV, which is made from pine. The complete spears vary in length from 1.84 to 2.53 m (6.04 to 8.30 ft), with diameters ranging from 29 to 47 mm (1.14 to 1.85 in).[29] The wooden finds were exposed to sedimentary pressure, and there are varying degrees of deformation.

The spears were debarked and have evidence of working traces at both ends, demonstrating that they were shaped to be double pointed.[30] One exception is Spear VI, which does not appear to taper at the back. The points of the spears made use of the bases of trees, which is harder wood, while the soft inner pith is offset from the tip.[31] These features suggest an awareness of the properties of wood, and the design in such a way as to maximise the hardness of wood.

Like today's tournament javelins, the greatest diameter and therefore likely the centre of gravity is located in the front third of the shaft of at least some of the spears.[32] In addition, most of the spears, with the exception of Spear VI, taper at both the front and the back, which may assist flight aerodynamics. This led many to suggest that they may have been designed as thrown spears, similar to a modern javelin.

Experimental research using experienced athletes to throw replicas of Spear II show that the spears are capable of being thrown at distances of at least 15 to 20 m (49 to 66 ft), and are similar in weight and balance to javelins.

saber-toothed cats, with whom the humans shared the landscape.[39]

Other discoveries

In addition to the spears and double-pointed sticks, a charred wooden stick made of spruce and measuring 87.7 by 3.6 cm (34.5 by 1.4 in) was also found at Schöningen 13 II-4, and is interpreted as a possible skewer.[40] Hundreds of additional wooden fragments from the site are the subject of ongoing research by a multidisciplinary team.

Also among the finds are the so-called 'clamp shafts', excavated from locality Schöningen 12b, a site that formed earlier than Schöningen 13 II-4. These tools were made from the extremely hard wooden branch-bases of the

European silver fir. They are noticeably worked and may have been used as handles for stone tools.[41]

As of 2015, around 1500 stone tools and over 12,000 animal bones were found.[42] The stone tools comprise denticulates, some bifacially worked tools, retouched flakes and scrapers, but there are no handaxes or handaxe thinning flakes.[43] As such the stone tools are interpreted as late Lower Palaeolithic in nature. The majority of animal bones with signs of butchery belong to an extinct species of horse (Equus mosbachensis). Also present are red deer and large bovids.[44][45] Marks on the bones suggest that the humans had first access to the carcasses, and that carnivores such as wolves and sabre-tooth cats accessed the bones later. Marks from stone tools suggest that humans worked together to butcher their prey.[46] Bone tools have also been discovered in the 'Spear Horizon', and are suggested to have been used for knapping flint and for breaking open other bones for marrow.[47]

Thanks to excellent preservation conditions, there are many finds of small animals, among them small mammals, fish, mollusks and insects. Together with the carpological remains, they enable a detailed reconstruction of the climate and the environment, and show that the site of 13 II formed towards the end of the interglacial.[48]

Significance

Nine of the spears are made of spruce (Picea abies) wood
Associated bone fossils

The spears and the place of discovery revolutionized the picture of the

modern humans.[49][50] In addition, the spears have played a major role in debates about the origins of throwing
.

Since 2010, the excavations on top of the excavation base continued in the framework of a project by the Lower Saxony State Service for Cultural Heritage in

Romano-Germanic Central Museum Mainz
and others.

In 2009,

building contractor
was the town of Schöningen. Responsible for the conception and contextual planning was the Lower Saxony State Service of Cultural Heritage. The centre was opened at the beginning of 2013.

Debates

Archaeologists at the University of Tübingen have questioned some of the initial interpretations of the site.[51] Isotope analysis and wear patterns on the horse teeth show a wide variety of habitat and diet amongst the animals, indicating that the faunal assemblage accumulated in many small events, rather than one large slaughter.[52]

Sediment analysis shows that the red colour previously thought to be a result of hearths and burning are actually iron compounds forming as the lake levels dropped in recent times.[53] Lake algae, sponges, and small crustaceans found in the sediments led to a suggestion that the spears were never used on dry land and that the deposit had always been submerged.[54] In that scenario, the horses may have been hunted in shallow water rather than at the lake edge. As yet the hunting strategies and depositional circumstances of the spears remain unresolved.

A further debate has centred around whether Schöningen humans were capable of powerful and accurate throws, and whether their wooden spears were effective as distance weapons.[55][56]

Similar finds

Wooden spears from the

Palaeolithic are rare discoveries. Well-preserved finds include the ca. 400,000 year old broken Clacton Spear from Clacton-on-Sea (England),[57] and the wooden spear from Lehringen (Germany), which is around 120,000 years old.[58] Other finds such as those from Bad Cannstatt (Germany/Baden-Wuerttemberg) and Bilzingsleben are debatable as their preservation was poor.[59][60][61] Later examples of possible wooden spears made by Homo sapiens include those from Monte Verde (Chile), and Wyrie Swamp (Australia).[62]

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External links

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52°08′14″N 10°59′18″E / 52.13722°N 10.98833°E / 52.13722; 10.98833

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