Ancient inhabitants of the North Caucasus used compound arrows and darts made of obsidian and flint to hunt animals. This was reported by the press service of the RNF.
These conclusions were made after examining the artifacts in the Mezmaiskaya cave, as well as the Sosruko and Psytuazhe barracks in Russia’s North Caucasus. The 20,000-year-old obsidian and flint tool pieces found there are tiny pointed pebbles that are hard to tell exactly how they were used. The scientists analyzed these spots and wear marks and learned that they were mainly used as clues for throwing weapons – arrows and darts.
At the same time, ancient people also used finds in the form of segments, triangles, trapezoids and rectangles as lateral (cutting and piercing) inserts on blades, as well as darts and arrows.
With the help of X-ray fluorescence analysis, it was possible to find out where ancient people got one of the main materials for clues – obsidian. It turned out that it was extracted mainly from the Zayukovsky deposit, located in the Elbrus region. A modern person knew about this resource and actively used it in places both slightly distant (about 30 km) and hundreds of kilometers from the bed. For example, in the Mezmaiskaya cave in the Northwest Caucasus, artifacts from Zayukovsky obsidian, located 200-250 km in a straight line, without considering modern relief, were studied.
Analysis of the bones found showed that hunting was mainly done by mountain expeditions and goats. Sometimes other large animals such as fallow deer and wild boar became prey, but rabbit and badger bones were also found.
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