The
edge of this ancient obsidian stone point shows damage that suggests it
was part of a spear thrown at animals from a short distance.
Y. SAHLE/PLOS ONE 2013
4 comments:
Alec
said...
I thought that his was interesting because they obsidian looked amazing for 279,000 years. Even thought that spear was very old, I think that if we keep looking we can find thing even older. I thought that humans were the first species to make advanced weapons, but our primate-like ancestors were the first species to make spears. I am still wondering how they could throw a spear so far with so much accuracy. The stone might make the spear be off balance. By looking at the rock it seems that the aero dynamics were bad, but here we are today. This is what I thought of this article.
I thought that this article was very interesting, are theses huminoid specis the pre-neanderthal specis that lived in africa, because if so, I watched a documentary on how they hunted animals and how they lived. I did not know that they used obsidian spear tips back then, i just thought that they sharpened sticks and hardened them in a fire, but i guss not. To answer your question about balance Alec I'm gussing that they counterbalanced it with another stone at the other end.
I think that this article might be interesting, but not very important or explanatory. First of all, the article said that these human ancestors were called hominids. However, I wanted to know what the difference is between a hominid and an "early human." After all, early humans differed from modern humans also. In fact, one article stated that early humans were flexible, they had high density in their leg bones, had short lower arm and leg bones, low, sloping foreheads, and a bulge at the back of their heads. Obviously, the early human was very different from modern humans. So I guess my question was why hominids were not considered humans. From my research, I think I can basically say that hominids were more similar to apes in appearance, but other articles also said that hominids showed many signs of "humanness." For example, we know that they used spears. Also, the hominids were more cooperative with each other. As to physical differences, the hominids had very little sexual dimorphism (we all know what that means), unlike many primates/apes. So it turns out that there is a very distinct difference between hominids and early humans, and my research also clears up for me that the hominids had some human-like traits, which explains the spear throwing. I wonder which weapon was the most effective, one of stone, wood, or bone? From what the article is saying, the writers seem to think that hominids usually used stone. I think it is amazing, what the scientists are capable of finding from this one stone, like how they deduced how old the stone was from the layers of volcanic ash on top of it and saw the tiny marks where the stone was tied to the shaft. As for the balance question that Alec asked, I couldn't find anything on the internet, but I think that it was balanced. When the spear is thrown, they want it to go in the direction they threw it at, and the weight of the tip will propel it there. The force of the throw should be enough to keep it hurling like that. If energy was lost, I think that the spear would probably just go down. Overall, this was a good article. I am not sure how we will use this information in the future, but it certainly was interesting.
This article was very interesting. Finding a spear that dated back 279000 years ago. But how is that number acurate. The article mentioned the old and newer spears being on top of eachother. What if our ancestors, from 105000 years ago buried these spears. So they may look old, but really aren't.
4 comments:
I thought that his was interesting because they obsidian looked amazing for 279,000 years. Even thought that spear was very old, I think that if we keep looking we can find thing even older. I thought that humans were the first species to make advanced weapons, but our primate-like ancestors were the first species to make spears. I am still wondering how they could throw a spear so far with so much accuracy. The stone might make the spear be off balance. By looking at the rock it seems that the aero dynamics were bad, but here we are today. This is what I thought of this article.
I thought that this article was very interesting, are theses huminoid specis the pre-neanderthal specis that lived in africa, because if so, I watched a documentary on how they hunted animals and how they lived. I did not know that they used obsidian spear tips back then, i just thought that they sharpened sticks and hardened them in a fire, but i guss not. To answer your question about balance Alec I'm gussing that they counterbalanced it with another stone at the other end.
I think that this article might be interesting, but not very important or explanatory. First of all, the article said that these human ancestors were called hominids. However, I wanted to know what the difference is between a hominid and an "early human." After all, early humans differed from modern humans also. In fact, one article stated that early humans were flexible, they had high density in their leg bones, had short lower arm and leg bones, low, sloping foreheads, and a bulge at the back of their heads. Obviously, the early human was very different from modern humans. So I guess my question was why hominids were not considered humans. From my research, I think I can basically say that hominids were more similar to apes in appearance, but other articles also said that hominids showed many signs of "humanness." For example, we know that they used spears. Also, the hominids were more cooperative with each other. As to physical differences, the hominids had very little sexual dimorphism (we all know what that means), unlike many primates/apes. So it turns out that there is a very distinct difference between hominids and early humans, and my research also clears up for me that the hominids had some human-like traits, which explains the spear throwing. I wonder which weapon was the most effective, one of stone, wood, or bone? From what the article is saying, the writers seem to think that hominids usually used stone. I think it is amazing, what the scientists are capable of finding from this one stone, like how they deduced how old the stone was from the layers of volcanic ash on top of it and saw the tiny marks where the stone was tied to the shaft. As for the balance question that Alec asked, I couldn't find anything on the internet, but I think that it was balanced. When the spear is thrown, they want it to go in the direction they threw it at, and the weight of the tip will propel it there. The force of the throw should be enough to keep it hurling like that. If energy was lost, I think that the spear would probably just go down. Overall, this was a good article. I am not sure how we will use this information in the future, but it certainly was interesting.
This article was very interesting. Finding a spear that dated back 279000 years ago. But how is that number acurate. The article mentioned the old and newer spears being on top of eachother. What if our ancestors, from 105000 years ago buried these spears. So they may look old, but really aren't.
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