80,000-year-old “arrowheads” rewrite human history
Archaeologists have identified 80,000-year-old projectile points in Uzbekistan, suggesting early human migration patterns were more complex than previously thought. This discovery challenges traditional Eurocentric models of human history and the timeline of Homo sapiens' expansion.
Why it matters
It forces a re-evaluation of the timeline and geographical origins of human technological development and migration.
Unretouched triangular microlithic projectile points have been identified from their impact traces in the oldest occupation layers of the Obi-Rakhmat site in Uzbekistan, dating to 80,000 years ago. Their size corresponds to small arrowheads, which are directly comparable to those produced by Homo sapiens during an incursion into Neanderthal territory in the Rh ne Valley, 25,000 years later. This new study , published in the PLOS One journal, provides a strong argument that could rewrite history on Homo sapiens ' first settlement in Europe.
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