A Lakeside Hunting Camp
Between 1994 and 1998, archaeologists led by Hartmut Thieme made a series of discoveries in an open-cast lignite mine in Schöningen. Buried in ancient lakeside sediments, they found ten wooden spears, the oldest completely preserved hunting weapons ever discovered. Thermoluminescence dating of heated flints found nearby places the artifacts between 300,000 and 337,000 years old, within an interglacial period known as MIS 9. The waterlogged, low-oxygen mud of the former shoreline created the perfect anaerobic conditions to prevent the wood from decaying.
The spears are sophisticated tools. Most were carved from the trunks of slow-growing Norway spruce trees, with one made from pine. The complete examples measure between 1.8 and 2.5 meters long, with diameters from 29 to 47 millimeters. The makers shaped them so that the center of gravity is in the front third of the shaft, a design principle identical to that of a modern tournament javelin, making them effective throwing weapons. The tips are carved from the base of the tree trunk, where the wood is hardest, and are shaped symmetrically. This level of craftsmanship shows advanced planning, tool use, and a deep understanding of materials by the hominins who made them, likely Homo heidelbergensis.
Evidence of a Coordinated Hunt
The spears were not found in isolation. They lay among the remains of at least 20 wild horses (Equus mosbachensis), an extinct species. In total, the site yielded more than 10,000 animal bones. The horse bones show extensive cut marks from stone tools, and one horse's pelvis was found with a spear still associated with it, providing direct proof of their use in hunting. The placement of the cut marks indicates that the hominins had first access to the carcasses, butchering them for meat before carnivores like saber-toothed cats moved in to scavenge.
Alongside the spears and bones, archaeologists recovered about 1,500 flint artifacts, including knives and scrapers used for butchery. The site also contained smaller, double-pointed "throwing sticks," likely used for hunting birds or smaller game. This collection of artifacts shows a well-organized group of hunters who repeatedly used this location. They possessed a specialized toolkit and the cognitive ability for complex, cooperative hunting strategies. The finds at Schöningen changed the scientific view of early human behavior and technological capability.