Traces of plant poison on ancient African arrowheads provide the oldest direct evidence of poisoned weapons.
Scientists have discovered chemical traces of plant-based poison on Stone Age arrowheads from South Africa, representing the earliest known example of poisoned arrows. Reported in the journal Science Advances, the findings show that people living in southern Africa 60,000 years ago had already developed detailed knowledge of toxic plants and understood how to apply that knowledge to hunting.
The study was conducted by an international research team from South Africa and Sweden. The researchers analyzed 60,000-year-old quartz arrowheads recovered from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where they detected chemical residues linked to gifbol , a poisonous plant that is still used by some traditional hunters today.
“This is the result of a long and close collaboration between researchers in South Africa and Sweden. Being able to identify the world’s oldest arrow poison together has been a complex undertaking and is incredibly encouraging for continued research,” says Professor Sven Isaksson at the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, an expert in the analysis of organic residues in archaeological materials who carried out the chemical analyses.
Oldest evidence of arrow poison
“This is the oldest direct evidence that humans used arrow poison. It shows that our ancestors in southern Africa 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,” says Professor Marlize Lombard, a researcher at the Palaeo-Research Institute at the University of Johannesburg.
