Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Yao, Juanting
• Xia, Huan
• Li, Ting
• Lin, Dongpeng
• Li, Yuanxin
• Shen, Xuke
• Wang, Jian
• Zhang, Dongju

Titel

The evolution of prehistoric arrowheads in northern China and its influential factors

Ist Teil von

• Science China. Earth sciences, 2023-09, Vol.66 (9), p.2109-2124

Ort / Verlag

Beijing: Science China Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Prehistoric projectile weapons are crucial for understanding the hunting behavior, survival strategies, and subsistence patterns of prehistoric humans. Arrowheads were the primary prehistoric projectile weapon, and here we review the spatio-temporal distribution and changes in the morphology, quantity, and materials composition of arrowheads in the northern regions of China from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods to the Bronze Age, together with the factors that influenced these changes. The results reveal that primitive stone arrowheads appeared sporadically in the Middle Paleolithic period. Additionally, the “broad spectrum revolution” and microblade technology during the Upper Paleolithic promoted the regional-scale diffusion of broad and thick stone arrowheads in northern China. During the Neolithic period, relatively narrow and thin stone and bone arrowheads spread rapidly across the entire Yellow River Basin and most of northeastern China. The dominance of these two types of arrowheads alternated, during the period of 7000–5000 yr BP, the number of arrowheads peaked, possibly closely related to changes in the role of hunting (fishing and hunting) and gathering in the subsistence economy, human population size, and the emergence and development of a grinding technology. During the Bronze Age, a significant number of bronze arrowheads appeared, and the total number of arrowheads increased again, and their distribution expanded to northwestern China. The emergence of a bronze smelting technology and inter-group conflicts may have been the primary factors influencing this trend. Our results demonstrate that arrowheads were always an essential component of prehistoric tool kits. Due to technological developments in subsistence strategies, the morphology, function, and popularity of arrowheads underwent substantial changes during different periods. Therefore, a comprehensive study of prehistoric arrowheads can help better understand the subsistence patterns and processes of economic and societal development of prehistoric humans.