Expert: Ralph Salier - 7/31/2011

Question
Can you please tell me anything about the types of Stone Age African arrowheads / projectile points? I am looking for descriptions with places and dates - is there any form of timeline? Any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Tom

Answer
Hi Tom,.

Not unlike North  America, the types and styles cover a very broad range.  Materials, sizes and shapes are different from place to place and culture to culture.  I don't know of a comprehensive book on the subject and as far as I am aware, i've not heard about any one attempting to put one together.

You can go on line to see many of the different types and where they are from as well as age.  You can go to www.google.com and put in African Arrowheads and then look at each of the items that comes up.  In  the first one I looked at there were items from North Africa's neolithic.  Below are some other sites as well:


www.stoneageartifacts.com/html/Artifact-Fishing-Arrowheads.html
www.africaguide.com/forums/read.php?9,21744
www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20African%20Weapons%20
www.arrowheads.com/.../492.../20-African+Neolithic+Arrowheads

There may also be some arrow heads from the mesolithic period and the paleolithic periods but not many.

Also the neolithic moved into the bronze age and then into the iron age fairly rapidly.