Taking the Bull by the Horns: Why Hunt Aurochs Using Light Arrows with Microlithic Points?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Human Interactions with Extinct Fauna" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Late Glacial hunters in northern Europe made heavy flint arrow armatures that resemble modern broadhead hunting arrows. These were used for hunting reindeer, as a number of instances of such arrows lodged in reindeer bones testify. With the spread of forests new animals appeared, among them aurochs. In several instances auroch skeletons have been found associated with light microlithic arrow armatures, showing that as much heavier animals became available they were hunted with lighter archery gear. This reflects the different flight behaviours of animals in wooded country, and the different hunting methods that evolved to deal with this. I argue that light arrows were designed to bleed and weaken the aurochs, not to kill them; we need a new candidate for the weapon that delivered the coup de grâce.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Human Interactions with Extinct Fauna   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22833