Experimental evidence for lithic projectile injuries: improving identification of an under-recognised phenomenon

Abstract

Between the Upper Palaeolithic and the spread of metallurgy stone-tipped projectiles were of great importance both for subsistence and as weapons. Whilst finds of embedded projectile points in human and animal bone are not uncommon, identifications of such wounds in the absence of embedded points are rare. Previous experimentation involving archaic projectiles has not examined the effects of stone-tipped projectiles on bone. This paper presents the results of experiments in which samples of animal bone were impacted with flint-tipped arrows. The results demonstrate that positive identifications can be made, both grossly and microscopically, of bony trauma caused by flint projectiles. In addition, flint projectiles are shown to often leave small embedded fragments, which can also be identified microscopically. These results compare well with archaeological examples of suspected ‘arrow wounds’ and the article demonstrates the practical application of this data in identifying such injuries. By facilitating the recognition of projectile trauma these findings will have significance both for the investigation of hunting strategies and levels of conflict amongst early human societies.

Introduction

Between the Upper Palaeolithic and the inception of metallurgy, stone-tipped projectiles played an important part in both subsistence strategies and interpersonal conflict. Whilst the lithic components of such artefacts are relatively ubiquitous in the archaeological record, evidence for their use is less common and more difficult to identify. Where such identifications have been suggested, these are generally in the form of projectile points embedded in human and animal bone, with a smaller number based upon apparent penetrating injuries to bone where projectiles are absent. The latter class in particular, are somewhat speculative, as they have not been based on direct observation.

A great deal of effort has been invested in discerning the uses to which lithic hunting implements have been put. However, the majority of such work has concentrated on the effects of impacts on the artefacts, with relatively little attention paid to identifying evidence for hunting on the osseous remains of animals being hunted (see ‘Earlier Work’). The establishment of experimentally observed signatures will be instrumental to further advance in this area. A variety of investigations have been conducted relating to interactions between stone tools and bone, with regard to recognising and interpreting butchery practices. Projectile trauma represents an important further class of evidence that should be added to the range of recognised categories of bone modification. Unless investigators are able to differentiate between the effects of projectiles and those of other implements on bone, such evidence runs the risk either of not being noticed or of being misidentified as other kinds of tool-mark.

Improved recognition of such trauma may also have significant implications for our understanding of conflict in prehistory. Recent years have seen a renewal of interest in the archaeology of warfare with a corresponding rejection of previous ‘pacified’ views of the past [23]. However, inferences concerning the presence or absence of both intergroup and interpersonal conflict are only possible in the light of clearly defined signatures that are acknowledged as evidence for particular kinds of physical aggression. Unless a specific class of event has been observed and its effects documented, attempts to recognise the material residue of such an occurrence will remain little more than speculation. Whilst significant advances have been made in recent years with regard to the recognition of some types of skeletal injury, this article argues that trauma caused by archaic projectiles has been a somewhat neglected area and deserves greater attention.

This article discusses experimental work undertaken to facilitate the identification of stone-tipped projectile trauma in archaeological material. In so doing the investigations described below had several aims; firstly, it was intended to investigate the signatures left on bone by stone projectile points at both gross and microscopic levels. In particular, it was hoped to provide data that might assist in the identification of more equivocal defects on bone, which might otherwise be regarded as too ambiguous to be confidently identified as projectile wounds. Secondly, it was intended to investigate the frequency with which fragments of flint projectiles may become embedded in bone and to maximise their recognition in archaeological material. Finally, past assertions about the likely nature of archaic projectile wounds have often been based upon observations of trauma caused by modern projectiles, including both bullets and modern hunting and field-tipped arrows. A further aim of the present study was therefore to assess the extent to which such comparisons with modern projectiles are appropriate.