Exploring arrow poisons from Windvogel’s Country, Eastern Cape, South Africa: a discussion between Piet Windvogel and William Atherstone on 6 February 1846

Work on large samples of southern African lithics, probably used to tip hunting weapons amongst other things, exposed limitations in the tip cross-sectional area method's robustness for hypothesising about variation in Stone Age/Palaeolithic weapon-delivery systems. Here we list some of the limitations and discuss a few recently published improvements in tip cross-sectional area ranges and data presentation.Our main contribution is the meaningful enlargement of datasets obtained from hafted weapon tips and/or weapon tips of known use mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. We brie y discuss why this region is relevant for studying trends in the evolution and development of hunting weapons. Our new data are used to strengthen and constrain the different TCSA ranges used as proxies for poisoned arrow tips, unpoisoned arrow tips, javelin tips, stabbing-spear tips, and to suggest a working TCSA range for thrustingspear tips. We demonstrate that the calibrated TCSA ranges have robust statistical integrity as proxies for the different weapon-delivery systems they represent. Apart from the dart-tip category, the TCSA method has now been improved to accommodate more nuanced and accurate interpretations, while further strengthening hypothesis building about ancient weapon systems.

show abstract

The Tip Cross-sectional Area (TCSA) Method Strengthened and Constrained with Ethno-historical Material from Sub-Saharan Africa

Lombard

Lotter

Caruana

2022

J Archaeol Method Theory

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Orb-web spider Argiope (Araneidae) as indigenous arrow poison of G/ui and G//ana San hunters in the Kalahari

Bird

Moeti²,

Hitchcock

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hunting has been crucial in early human evolution. Some San (Bushmen) of southern Africa still practice their indigenous hunting. The use of poisons is one remarkable aspect of their bow-and-arrow hunting but the sources, taxonomic identifications of species used, and recipes, are not well documented. This study reports on fieldwork to investigate recent indigenous hunting practices of G/ui and G//ana San communities in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana. Here we discuss their use of spider poison. The hunters use the contents of the opisthosoma (‘abdomen’) of a spider as sole ingredient of the arrow poison and discard the prosoma that contains the venom-glands. Using taxonomic keys, we identified the spider as the garden orb-web spider Argiope australis (Walckenaer 1805) (Araneidae). The hunters’ choice of this species is remarkable given the scientific perception that A. australis is of little medical importance. The species choice raises questions about how the spider fluids could kill game, particularly when the prosoma, which contains the venom glands, is not used. Possibilities include trauma, as a source of pathogens, or abdomen-containing toxins. Based on characteristics of Argiope Audouin 1826, we hypothesize that the choice of this species for arrow poisons might have evolved from the recognition of aposematic signalling or spiritual symbolism. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is an important source for advances in biotechnology but is in decline worldwide. The study contributes to the documentation of the San people, and their ancient IK, which is threatened by marginalization, political pressures, and climate change.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Exploring arrow poisons from Windvogel’s Country, Eastern Cape, South Africa: a discussion between Piet Windvogel and William Atherstone on 6 February 1846

Cited by 2 publications

References 70 publications

The Tip Cross-sectional Area (TCSA) Method Strengthened and Constrained with Ethno-historical Material from Sub-Saharan Africa

The Tip Cross-sectional Area (TCSA) Method Strengthened and Constrained with Ethno-historical Material from Sub-Saharan Africa

Orb-web spider Argiope (Araneidae) as indigenous arrow poison of G/ui and G//ana San hunters in the Kalahari

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About