News Archaeology

Neandertals invented bone-tipped spears all on their own

A newfound bone point predates tool-toting Homo sapiens’ arrival in Eastern Europe

Close-up views of a pointed, yellowish-brown ancient bone fragment shown from three different angles against a black background, displaying its weathered texture and dark speckled markings.

A sharpened 80,000-year-old animal bone fragment, photographed from three angles, may have been used by Neandertals as the pointy end of a projectile weapon.

L.V. Golovonova et al/Journal of Archaeological Science 2025

By Taylor Mitchell Brown

Neandertals may have been forging projectile weapons out of animal bones 50,000 years earlier than previously thought.

A bone fragment unearthed from roughly 80,000-year-old rock in Europe shows signs of sharpening and bitumen residue — a sticky tar suggesting the point was once attached to some sort of shaft, perhaps to make a spear or other projectile weapon, archaeologist Liubov Golovanova and colleagues report in the July Journal of Archaeological Science.