Projectile-weapons enter Europe 20,000 years earlier than previously thought

Jovialis

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A team of Japanese and Italian researchers, including from Tohoku University, have evidenced mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe dating to 45,000-40,000 years—more than 20,000 years than previously thought. This study, titled "The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe," published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, indicated that the spearthrower and bow-and-arrow technologies allowed modern humans to hunt more successfully than Neanderthals—giving them a competitive advantage. This discovery offered important insight to understand the reasons for the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans.
Apparently, Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted in Europe for at least 5,000 years. However, little is known about why modern humans could increase their population size after migrating to Europe and successfully occupy new territories, while autochthonous Neanderthals went extinct ~ 40,000 years ago.

The research team included 17 scientists from Italy and Japan, coordinated by the archaeologists Katsuhiro Sano (Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University) and Adriana Moroni (Department of Environment, Earth and Physical Sciences, University of Siena), and the paleoanthropologist Stefano Benazzi (Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna).

They studied 146 crescent-shaped backed pieces (also referred to as lunates or segments) retrieved from the Uluzzian culture of Grotta del Cavallo (Southern Italy), the first Upper Paleolithic culture developed by modern humans in Europe. "Similar backed pieces have been observed in East Africa, although there is no archaeological evidence indicating a route from East Africa into Europe. To better understand the differences in the Uluzzian from previous lithic traditions, as well as the significance of the emergence of this new culture in Europe, it was crucial to identify the function of the backed pieces," said Adriana Moroni.

The backed pieces were macroscopically and microscopically analyzed using a Hirox digital microscope and results were compared with use-wear patterns on experimental samples. Through this analysis, diagnostic impact fractures and microscopic impact linear traces were found on numerous backed pieces, demonstrating that they were used as hunting weapons. "The diagnostic impact fractures showed the similar patterns of experimental samples delivered by a spearthrower and a bow, but significantly different from those observed on throwing and thrusting samples," said Katsuhiro Sano. "Modern humans migrating into Europe equipped themselves with mechanically delivered projectile weapons, such as a spearthrower-darts or a bow-and-arrows, which had higher impact energy hunting strategy and offered modern humans a substantive advantage over Neanderthals," concluded Sano.

https://phys.org/news/2019-09-insight-competitive-advantage-modern-humans.html

Paper:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0990-3
 
The C1 Aurignacians were not kind to the Neanderthals.

Simply being better does not displace a species. Lions are better hunters in terms of fierceness and strength than Cheetahs, but the existence of Lions does not mean Cheetahs go extinct. These old theories are illogical and dead. At the very least, the Neanderthals were made to feel unwanted and unwelcome in their home of Europe. The fact that the new Aurignacians had better weapons in up to three categories, indicates Aurignacians had the weapon, motive (Aurignacians wanted and got Europe) and were on the scene of the crime.

That singular F* in the Balkans was not Aurignacian, but something isolate, and is nearly if not fully contemporaneous with the Aurignacians. The women of the Aurignacians were U2 and M. The other gender was Y-DNA C1.

F* does not give birth to C1s. The proto-Aurignacians were C1s.
 
I don't buy this.
The Ulluzians were shortlived.
They were the first ones with blade tools, which the Neanderthals didn't have.
But they were soon succeeded by proto-Auragnacians, Auragnacians and finally by Gravettians.
First evidence for spearthrowers is Solutrean, some 25 ka, and first users of bow and arrow in European were the Villabruna clade.
 
The C1 Aurignacians were not kind to the Neanderthals.

Simply being better does not displace a species. Lions are better hunters in terms of fierceness and strength than Cheetahs, but the existence of Lions does not mean Cheetahs go extinct. These old theories are illogical and dead. At the very least, the Neanderthals were made to feel unwanted and unwelcome in their home of Europe. The fact that the new Aurignacians had better weapons in up to three categories, indicates Aurignacians had the weapon, motive (Aurignacians wanted and got Europe) and were on the scene of the crime.

That singular F* in the Balkans was not Aurignacian, but something isolate, and is nearly if not fully contemporaneous with the Aurignacians. The women of the Aurignacians were U2 and M. The other gender was Y-DNA C1.

F* does not give birth to C1s. The proto-Aurignacians were C1s.

Except
There
Is
No
Scene
Of
A
Crime


And

No
Neanderthal
Remains
Have
Been
Found
In
Europe
With
Bow and arrow
Or
Atlatl
Wounds


And

Dna evidence
Suggests
Neanderthals
Cucked
Modern humans
Since it was male neanderthals
Breeding with modern human females
And also Denisovan males
With modern human females
Across Wallace's line
In Oceania


The primary hunting weapon of the Aurignacians was a hand-thrown spear with a split-base antler point, which is actually a shittier product than the hand-thrown Levallois point spears or the Schoeningen javelins.
 

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