Researchers unearth the oldest known Eurasian bow and arrow tech

Archaeological excavations deep within the rain forests of Sri Lanka have unearthed the earliest evidence for hunting with bows and arrows outside Africa.

At Fa-Hien Lena, a cave in the heart of Sri Lanka’s wet zone forests, we discovered numerous tools made of stone, bone, and tooth – including a number of small arrow points carved from bone which are about 48,000  years (Late Pleistocene era) old. 

This evidence is earlier than similar findings in Southeast Asia 32,000 years ago and is currently the earliest clear evidence for bow-and-arrow use beyond the African continent

The island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, just south of the Indian subcontinent, is home to the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens in South Asia,” said lead author Dr. Michelle Langley of Griffith University and colleagues from Australia, Germany, Sri Lanka, Canada, and the United States.

Some of the biggest finds from this site include single and double pointed bone tools. Researchers speculate these tools were used to exploit the many tropical resources Sri Lanka has to offer. Through microscopic analysis of the tools, the researchers have found direct evidence of the tools' usage.

“The size, form, and damage found on many of the bone points were best explained by their having been used as arrow tips to hunt difficult-to-catch rain forest prey, rather than spears,” Dr. Langley said.

The fractures on the points indicated damage through high-powered impact — something usually seen in bow-and-arrow hunting of animals.