АНУ-ын Техас мужийн агуйгаас МЭӨ 4500 онд хамаарах, маш сайн хадгалагдан үлдсэн ан агнуурын зэвсэг болон багаж хэрэгсэл илрүүлсэн нь тус бүс нутгийн түүхийг судлахад чухал ач холбогдолтой олдвор боллоо.
Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) болон Канзасын их сургуулийн сайн дурын судлаачид 2019 оноос хойш Биг Бэнд үндэсний хүрээлэн дэх Сан Эстебан хэмээх агуйд малтлага хийж байна. Судлаачид тус газрыг МЭӨ 11-р мянганы үед уугуул иргэд орогнож байсан гэж үздэг бөгөөд 2020 оноос эхлэн ан агнуурын зэвсгийн нөөц бүхий олон тооны олдворуудыг гаргаж авчээ.
Олдворуудын дунд модон иштэй, чулуун үзүүртэй жад болон нум сумнаас ялгаатай, “атлатл” хэмээх зэвсэг шидэгч төхөөрөмжид зориулсан хэрэгслүүд багтаж байна. Мөн судлаачид нум хэлбэртэй, шулуун бумерангтай төстэй модон эдлэлүүдийг илрүүлсэн нь жижиг ан амьтдыг намнах зориулалттай байсан байж болзошгүй гэж таамаглаж байна. Нүүрстөрөгчийн он цаг тогтоох аргаар шинжлэхэд эдгээр олдворууд МЭӨ 4500 онд хамаарч байгаа нь тогтоогджээ.
CBBS-ийн захирал Брайон Шрёдерийн тайлбарласнаар, энэхүү иж бүрдэл нь тухайн үеийн хүрээлэн буй орчныг сэргээн тогтоох болон эртний хүмүүсийн багаж хэрэгсэл урлах ур чадварыг судлах ховор боломжийг олгож байна. Уугуул иргэд ургамал судлалын анхан шатны мэдлэгтэй байсан байж болох ба энэ нь зэвсгийн үзүүрийг хордуулах замаар ашиглаж байсан байх магадлалыг бий болгож байна. Малтлагын ажил үргэлжилж байгаа бөгөөд энэхүү нээлт нь Хойд Америкийн сууриншлын түүхэнд шинэ мэдээлэл нэмэх юм.
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Prehistoric hunters left behind remarkably well-made equipment, now found in a cave. Spears, stone points and curved wooden pieces rank among the oldest known weapons in North America. The excavations, which began in 2019, are far from finished revealing their secrets.
The story of how North America was settled has been written, but it remains relatively little known in certain regions. Southern Texas, close to the Mexican border, is one of them, and it is precisely there that an intriguing find has just come to light.
The San Esteban site, not far from the Rio Grande, is one of the oldest settlement sites in the United States. For several years now, it has been yielding numerous artifacts, including hunting weapons with rare characteristics.
A Texas Cave Explored Since 2019
Within Big Bend National Park, volunteers from the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) and the University of Kansas have been digging since 2019 at this natural formation known as San Esteban. As early as 2020, the archaeologists were unearthing several artifacts, some of which made up a weapons cache.
The cave discovery was reported in a LiveScience article dated April 8. The site itself is far older than the objects found there: the native people appear to have taken refuge in the area during the 11th millennium BC.
“If it really is a contemporaneous kit, it’s a pretty monumental finding,” explained Bryon Schroeder, director of the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS). “We can use the wood to reconstruct the environment and learn more about the amount of time they spent working on tools.”
How Ancient Hunters Made Their Weapons?
On site, scraps of leather were wrapped around wooden shafts as well as several objects carved from stone. Among them was a sharpened point, designed to be fitted onto the end of the wood like a spear. These shafts were shaped so they could be used with a “thrower,” which researchers call an “atlatl.”
Shorter and lighter than spears, atlatls prove remarkably accurate, especially over a distance of ten to fifty meters. CBBS experts also believe that the native people of San Esteban had a grasp of basic botany, which would have allowed them to craft poisoned points.
How Old Are These Boomerangs?
Some of the wider wooden pieces, gently curved, look a lot like straight boomerangs. Hurled at a target, they could knock out certain animals or even kill smaller prey. Unlike the classic version, with its far sharper curve, they never came back to the thrower’s hand.
According to the same source material, many straight boomerangs have been found around the world, the oldest one collected to date having been made 30,000 years ago. Numerous studies of their aerodynamics also show real usefulness in a prehistoric hunting context, notably for intercepting certain game. Taken to the laboratory and analyzed with radiocarbon dating, the Big Bend hunting artifacts date to 4,500 BC.
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