Is It Possible to Distinguish Spears, Darts, and Arrows in the Archaeological Record?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The effort to distinguish weapon systems from scanty remains is an ongoing challenge for archaeologists. Advancements in weapon technology remains an important component of debates and theories in topics related to human evolution, human ecology, the rise of modern behavior and complex social organization. Because most elements of preindustrial weapons are perishable, archaeologists propose a variety of techniques to distinguish weapons from their more durable remains—namely stone points. This paper reviews the state of the problem and considers the significant hurdles ahead. We also ask what it means to see weapon technologies in the archaeological record in light of recent debates.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 54018