On the (Non-)Scalability of Target Media for Evaluating the Performance of Ancient Projectiles

What is it about?

Experiments that occur in a lab under highly controlled conditions (i.e., controlled experiments) can be useful for isolating a phenomenon of interest, but the results may only pertain to how things happen in a lab if significant effort is not made to link the results with events in the "real world." This is currently the case of homogeneous target media used in controlled experiments of ancient hunting and combat weapons, which are generally assumed to behave like flesh (i.e., muscle tissue). We find that commonly used targets do not behave like flesh for testing the penetrating performance of ancient weapons such as spears, atlatl darts, and arrows, which are very different than bullets. Targets used in forensic research on knife attacks may offer a solution.

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Photo by Niklas Tidbury on Unsplash

Photo by Niklas Tidbury on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Linking controlled experiments with events outside the lab is absolutely essential for any experimental science to be effective. Several previously accepted conclusions about ancient hunting and fighting weapons derive from experimental results using non-valid targets, and the results of those experiments can be quite different from weapon performance in the past. Notable claims about past hunting adaptations and human evolution deriving from those findings therefore need to be rethought.

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