First javelin

On 13 November 2013, the journal PLOS ONE published the results of a study that dates the use of javelins – projectile weapons – to more than 279,000 years ago. Previously it was thought that such weapons dated from around 80,000 years ago. The evidence came from a detailed examination of the type of damage and speed dependent features on fossils indicating that pointed stone artefacts were used on throwing weapons such as javelins. The stone-tipped weapons were found at Gademotta, Ethiopia, and the significance is that the data indicates that eastern Africa was a source of more modern culture and biology than previously thought. The weapons ultimately allowed humans to leave Africa and out-compete Neanderthals.