Archaeologists discover ancient hunting gear in Texas cave

Volunteers from the Big Bend Research Center and the University of Kansas have been excavating a natural cave formation called San Esteban in Big Bend National Park, Texas, since 2019.

The site, located near the Rio Grande river and the border with Mexico, represents one of the oldest human settlements in the United States. The team discovered a collection of prehistoric hunting equipment, including spears, stone points, and curved wooden objects.

These items represent some of the oldest known weapons in North America. Researchers found wooden handles wrapped in animal skin and pointed tips designed to attach to shafts. These shafts were intended for use with an atlatl, a lightweight throwing device that allows hunters to launch spears with high precision over distances of 10 to 50 meters. The discovery includes wide, slightly curved wooden items that resemble straight-line boomerangs.

Unlike traditional curved boomerangs, these objects were designed to strike and stun or kill small prey without returning to the thrower. Experts believe the indigenous inhabitants possessed botanical knowledge, possibly allowing them to coat the spearheads with poison. Bryon Schrader, the director of the Big Bend Research Center, stated that analyzing the wood could help reconstruct the ancient environment and reveal the effort required to manufacture these tools. Radiocarbon dating places these specific artifacts at approximately 4500 BC.

The ongoing excavations continue to provide insight into how early inhabitants occupied the region as far back as the 11th millennium BC.