The gravity of Paleolithic hunting

Topographic relief potentially played an important role in Stone Age hunting from the Middle Paleolithic onwards. Natural physical features like arroyos and cliffs, among many others, likely served as traps to stop or hinder animal movement. Yet, the presence of elevation and slope variation on a landscape means that hunters also may have been able to use terrain to hunt from on high. Here, we explored via archaeological experiment how an elevated position would have interacted with projectile weaponry via the force of gravity to influence a missile’s functional efficacy. We assessed the velocity and kinetic impact energy of two Paleolithic projectile weapon systems, the thrown javelin and the atlatl (spearthrower) and dart, at ground level and then at three-, six-, and nine-meter launch heights. The experimental results of the javelin supported our predictions. Velocity and kinetic impact energy increased as launch height increased. Unexpectedly, however, atlatl-propelled darts did not conform to our predictions, not only failing to increase dart velocity or kinetic impact energy as launch height increased but also decreasing both variables’ values. These results suggest that Paleolithic hunting with an atlatl in certain contexts likely came with consequential, and previously undocumented, opportunity costs. Our results also have implications for several aspects of archaeological interpretation in Paleolithic and post-Paleolithic contexts.