AboutJohn J. Shea Expertise Questions about Old World prehistoric archaeology (mainly Europe, Near East, and Africa during the Paleolithic period/Pleistocene Epoch).
IMPORTANT: I do not give advice about colleges. I do not appraise the value of artifacts or fossils.
Experience University professor of anthropology/archaeology since 1991.
Dozens of publications in peer-review anthropology journals.
Director of archaeological-paleontological expeditions and excavations in Israel, Jordan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
See my main profile under Allexperts` "Anthropology" section.
Professional website: http://www.sunysb.edu/anthro/staff/jshea.shtml
Personal website: http://www.sunysb.edu/anthro/Shea/Shea%20pers%20webpage.htm
Question The discovery of a bone projectile point at Sibudu cave in South Africa seems very interesting as it has led to the idea that archery may have originated within the Middle Stone Age or perhaps even earlier. When do you think that archery originated? Do you see evidence in the archeological sites which you have examined for archery originating within Africa during the MSA?
Dear Pedro
I am convinced the bow and arrow were initially developed in Subsaharan Africa, coming into widespread use there sometime between 50,000-100,000 years ago (50-100 Ka).
The main proof of this, to me, are a proliferation of small bifacially-flaked points and backed pieces in a variety of regional Middle Stone Age industries (most famously the Howiesonspoor, but there are others in Equatorial Africa).
I even found one of these things with a clear impact fracture on it in an early MSA site near Kibish in the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia. The site in question (BNS) is at least 104 Ka.
The problem was that while many Africanist prehistorians accepted a great antiquity for bow and arrow, few of them were publishing the data one needed to test this hypothesis.
So, a few years ago, I wrote a paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science in which, as a deliberate provocation, I argued projectile points were NOT in widespread use before 50 Ka. One reading of the evidence supported this conclusion, and I figured this would be a good way to "smoke out" data necessary to test hypotheses about early projectile weapon usage in Africa.
It worked like a charm, and pretty soon many Africanist researchers started publishing evidence of the kind needed to settle the issue.
Sincerely
John Shea
PS: I see you have sent me some other correpondence by email. I will reply to that message later this week. I am recently returned from fieldwork in Kenya and I am scrambling to catch up with backlogged correspondence.
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