AnaphoricReference t1_j9opffi wrote on February 23, 2023 at 2:18 PM

Reply to comment by AquaVada in Homo sapiens may have brought archery to Europe about 54,000 years ago by Yazan_Research

Thanks for the addition! I didn't dare to guess about those. I know the blunt ones are liked for their reusabilty, while the sharpened ones are more likely to break when you miss the target. But they obviously have the advantage of having some ability to pierce fur.

wegqg t1_j9phc7y wrote on February 23, 2023 at 5:22 PM

With a sharpened wooden arrowhead one can harden it in the ashes of a fire relatively easily.

Similarly, if / when it does blunt or splinter you can re-sharpen it relatively quickly.

The advantage of flint heads imo is more in terms of the amount of internal contusion and resultant blood loss happening a lot more quickly vs a wooden head that penetrates but also seals the wound.

wildskipper t1_j9qzl2e wrote on February 23, 2023 at 10:59 PM

Hunters coming from tropical rainforest environments would also have access to types of wood far harder than the more common hard woods. I could only speculate that some of this might have been suitable for making some impressively sharp arrows/spears.