Blood on the Edge: Proteomic Analyses of Neolithic Arrowheads from the Negev

Abstract

In spite of its centrality in understanding the human condition, the archaeological study of conflict and interpersonal violence in human prehistory^1,2,3,4 has always been limited by the scarcity and ambiguity of direct evidence^2,5. Proteomic analysis of residues from artifacts has been applied to a range of materials^6,7,8, but rarely to stone tools, and even more rarely to arrowheads. Here we demonstrate the common use of flint arrowheads as both weapons and hunting implements. Analysis of eight points from the small Negev Neolithic site of Nahal Issaron⁹ (c. 9000 to 8000 BP) showed protein residues deriving from humans, goat, gazelle, hyrax, dormouse, sparrow hawk, and fox, all the arrowheads but one yielding multiple signals. Human protein residues from internal tissues were found on four of the eight arrowheads studied, attesting to their common use as weapons in conflicts, even among early, small-scale hunter-gatherer/early pastoralist desert societies. Residues from Capra hircus attest to an early 9th millennium BP introduction of the domestic goat into the Negev. Hunting of wild animals, butchering, and perhaps a trade in raptor feathers and talons can also be adduced. The reuse of the arrowheads on different species, and their utilization for multiple functions was unexpected, reflecting their great value. Beyond the substantive results, as non-invasive and non-destructive, the EVA method shows great promise for application to larger samples and other chipped stone tools.