Scientists have identified poisoned arrowheads dating back roughly 60,000 years in South Africa — evidence that humans were using sophisticated hunting technology far earlier than previously believed.
The discovery is detailed in a recent study by Swedish and South African researchers published in ScienceAdvances, a peer-reviewed journal that features research across major scientific fields.
The quartz arrowheads were uncovered at the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, according to the study. Researchers say chemical traces on the artifacts indicate the points were coated with poison — a substance that likely wouldn’t have killed animals immediately, but would have weakened and slowed them over time, making prey easier to track and capture.
That kind of delayed effect matters, the authors argue, because it suggests hunters in the Pleistocene — an era marked by repeated ice ages — used nuanced strategies that required planning and an understanding of outcomes that weren’t instant. In other words, the toolmaking and use point to notable cognitive skill.
Before this discovery, the earliest known evidence of poisoned arrows came from the mid-Holocene, roughly 4,000 to 8,000 years ago, based on specimens found in Egypt and South Africa.
The researchers concluded that the poison used on the ancient arrowheads likely came from Boophone disticha (b. disticha), a highly toxic flowering plant native to southern Africa. The same toxin has also been identified on arrowheads from later periods, suggesting the plant’s use as a poison may have persisted over long stretches of time.
They noted that b. disticha can be lethal to rodents within 20 to 30 minutes. In humans, exposure can trigger symptoms including nausea, visual impairment, and muscle weakness.
In an email to CNN, the study’s lead author Sven Isaksson, a professor of archaeological science at Stockholm University’s Archaeological Research Laboratory, emphasized what the find reveals about the thinking abilities of early humans.
“Understanding that a substance applied to an arrow will weaken an animal hours later requires cause-and-effect thinking and the ability to anticipate delayed results,” Isaksson wrote. “The evidence points to prehistoric humans having advanced cognitive abilities, complex cultural knowledge, and well-developed hunting practices.”
Isaksson also said that detecting the same poison on both prehistoric and historical arrowheads was a key part of confirming what researchers were seeing.
“By carefully studying the chemical structure of the substances and thus drawing conclusions about their properties, we were able to determine that these particular substances are stable enough to survive this long in the ground,” he added.
