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Projectiles Under a New Angle: a Ballistic Analysis Provides an Important Building Block to Grasp Paleolithic Weapon Technology

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Abstract

Weapons and past weapon systems are important research topics in Paleolithic archaeology. Its popularity stems from its relevance for understanding broader technological evolution, subsistence strategies, and human behavior. However, identifying what weapon system was used has proven to be a significant methodological challenge over the last few decades and in spite of what some titles of recent publications suggest, the question is still not resolved. In this paper, we present the results of a ballistic analysis of the four modes of propulsion that are traditionally considered for the Paleolithic period (bow, spear-thrower, hand-cast and thrusting spear). We advocate a stepwise approach to the problem given the multiple variables involved. The goal of this study is to add an essential building block to current understanding by exploring the notion of reactional impact stress (RIS) on the basis of the angle of incidence developed by the different projectiles. Our results show the importance of RIS for accurately understanding the projectile impact phenomenon and the existence of a reproducible and mutually distinct RIS between the four tested weapon systems. These results shed a new light on approaches that have been used previously to examine weapon systems archaeologically, such as those relying on the length of “diagnostic impact fractures”. Our results allow the proposition of an alternative approach that appears to hold great potential, in particular for identifying the use of the bow. While a reliable method for recognizing past propulsion modes is not yet established, we conclude that the solution lies within the integration of several fields, more in particular use-wear analysis, fracture mechanics in brittle solids, and ballistics and we progressively move forward in identifying the key building blocks of such a method.

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modified from Fig. 10 in Lepers, 2010)

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all members of TraceoLab for constructive discussions throughout this research. We thank Leslie Moes for her assistance during the experiments. Finally, we express our gratitude to the reviewers for their helpful comments, which permitted us to improve this paper.

Funding

This research was funded by the European Research Council under the H2020 European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013) in the context of a starting grant (“EVO-HAFT”) attributed to V. Rots (ERC Grant Agreement n. 312283). V. Rots is also indebted to the Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS-FRS) and the research fund of ULiège (FSR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TraceoLab/Prehistory, University of Liège, Quai Roosevelt 1B, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Justin Coppe, Christian Lepers & Veerle Rots

  2. Maître de Recherches du FNRS, Brussels, Belgium

    Veerle Rots

  3. Institute for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Veerle Rots

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  1. Justin Coppe
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by JC and CL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JC and the direction of the study was performed by VR. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Justin Coppe.

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Coppe, J., Lepers, C. & Rots, V. Projectiles Under a New Angle: a Ballistic Analysis Provides an Important Building Block to Grasp Paleolithic Weapon Technology. J Archaeol Method Theory 29, 1131–1157 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09551-z

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