与尼安德特人一同狩猎

A set of elephant bones and a wooden spear found in Germany in 1948 are telling us more about the big-game-hunting abilities of our ancient human relatives, reports Emily H. Wilson IN THE backrooms of the sleek, modern Schöningen Research Museum in Germany, there are piles of old, mismatched cardboard boxes everywhere. These are the finds boxes from Lehringen, a hamlet 150 kilometres from here. In 1948, the bones of a 125,000-year-old straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) were found in an ancient lakebed at Lehringen. Elephant bones from this time period are not so rare, but this one had a 2.3-metre-long spear sticking between its ribs. This yew thrusting lance was then the oldest complete spear ever found. …