- published: 04 Jul 2015
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An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used. Arrowheads are important archaeological artifacts; they are a subclass of projectile points.
In the Stone Age, people used sharpened bone, flintknapped stones, flakes, and chips of rock as weapons and tools. Such items remained in use throughout human civilization, with new materials used as time passed. As archaeological artifacts such objects are classed as projectile points, without specifying whether they were projected by a bow or by some other means such as throwing.
Such artifacts can be found all over the world. Those that have survived are usually made of stone, primarily being flint, obsidian, or cherts, but in many excavations bone, wooden and metal arrowheads have been found.
In August 2010, a report on stone projectile points dating back 64,000 years excavated from layers of ancient sediment in Sibudu Cave, South Africa, by a team of scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand, was published. Examinations led by a team from the University of Johannesburg found traces of blood and bone residues, and glue made from a plant-based resin that was used to fasten them on to a wooden shaft. This indicated "cognitively demanding behavior" required to manufacture glue.