Mankind’s transformation of hunting tools into weapons began his early steps toward violent warfare during the Stone Age. Among the first weapons to appear on the battlefield were simple hand blades and axes made from rock that were employed against animals and men. The distinction between hunting and military weaponry remained blurred for generations. With the handle’s invention and projectile weapons development as the spear, atlatls, and the bow and arrow, a Paleolithic revolution in hunting and fighting commenced. Prehistoric peoples employed a lethal and exotic array of Stone Age weapons to defeat their enemies on the battlefield. For many primeval warriors, their best Stone Age weapons were stones, stone clubs, stone axes, stone blades, spears, atlatls, and bows and arrows.
STONES WERE THE FIRST WEAPONS
Stones were probably mankind’s first weapon along with his and her hands, feet, and teeth. Large stones were used to kill people and large animals, while small stones were thrown at the enemy during small battlefield clashes in the Paleolithic Era. Neanderthal people used large stones to kill wholly mammoths and other large herbivores for food, while Cro-Magnons used small stones to kill people and animals from a distance.
STONE CLUBS
A stone club was a very dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled warrior. Stone clubs were probably the primary weapons employed by warriors against their enemy before the technological evolution of wooden clubs, stone hand held axes, stabbing spears, and swords. Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon peoples fought with these weapons against their enemies. Paleolithic people invented the stone club about 500,000 BCE, according to modern archaeologists.
STONE HAND AXES
Stone hand axes were one of the primary stone tools of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic Epoch. This kind of weapon was typical of the lower Paleolithic and the middle Paleolithic and is the longest-used tool of human history. Stone hand axes were shaped to provide both cutting edges and sharp points. Although hand axes were essentially domestic tools, they were capable of inflicting savage wounds against people. Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon warriors employed these deadly weapons against each other during occasional Paleolithic clashes. Stone Hand axes have been around since 250,000 BCE, according to modern archeologists.
STONE BLADES
Paleolithic blades were used for cutting the animals and people. Paleolithic warriors used stone blades, dating back many generations, to dismember animals and humans that had been killed during battle. Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people designed many stone blades that were capable of cutting muscle and severing the skin from the animal’s flesh. Stone blades were usually about 15 centimeters long and they have been around since 40,000 BCE, according to modern archeologists.
The serrated flint knife was developed from simple flint blades and daggers. The knife’s teeth facilitate a sawing capability and provide Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people the opportunity to cut deep into bones and gristle. Serrated flint knives were usually about 20 centimeters in length and they have been around since 500,000 BCE, according to modern archeologists.
SPEAR
The spear is a pole weapon with a sharp point, either thrown or thrust at an enemy or prey. It appears in an almost infinite variety of forms in primitive societies around the world. At first the spear was just a sharpened stick. After a little while people made spearheads from a sharpened rock. Sometimes people used bones, too. Primitive peoples used spears primarily as throwing weapons. When military practice evolved from the independent action of a few warriors to the group movements of masses of warriors, the spear evolved into a thrusting weapon. Archeological evidence indicates that Neanderthals employed a wooden spear as a thrusting weapon, while Cro-Magnons used the spear for throwing at human and animal targets.
ATLATL
An atlatl is a tool and weapon designed for throwing either a spear or dart usually consisting of a rod or board with a groove on the upper surface and a hook, thong, or projection at the rear end to hold the weapon in place until its release. Its purpose is to give greater velocity and force to the spear. In use from prehistoric times, the spear-thrower was used to efficiently fell animals as large as the mammoth. The atlatl was probably invented around 100,000 BCE, according to modern archeologists.
BOW AND ARROW
The bow and arrow is a weapon consisting of a strip of wood or other flexible material, bent and held in tension by a string. The arrow, a long wooden shaft with a pointed tip, is stabilized in flight by a feathered tail. The arrow is fitted to the string by a notch in the end of the shaft and is drawn back to produce tension in the bow, which propels the arrow when the string is released. Bow construction ranges from wood, bone
The bow and arrow was one of the primary military weapon systems of the Cro-Magnon peoples. Cro-Magnons probably used the bow and arrow along with other distance weapon systems to exterminate the Neanderthal populations living throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
RELATED SOURCES
Regan, Paula and others; Weapon a Visual History of Arms and Armor; DK Publications, 2006. Wills, Chuck and others; Weaponry an Illustrated History; Moseley Road Publications, 2006. Zimmerman, Dwight, Jon; The Book of War; Tess Press: New York, 2008. Zimmerman, Dwight, Jon; The Book of War; Tess Press: New York, 2009.