Are These Some of the Oldest Weapons Ever Discovered in the Americas?

And you won’t guess what kind of weapons they were.

Transcript

00:00You've probably seen something like this before, a Native American arrowhead from a

00:08bygone era.

00:09But what if I told you these sharp-tipped weapons made for hunting were the oldest ever

00:12discovered in the Americas?

00:14And what if I told you they weren't arrowheads at all?

00:16The find was made in Idaho by researchers with Oregon State University.

00:20Archaeologists say these pointy objects were likely produced 15,700 years ago.

00:25But they're still razor sharp, meaning the find predates other projectile tips by 2,300

00:30years.

00:31And while they look like arrowheads, they say these are actually the tips of darts,

00:35which the archaeologists add would have been quite deadly.

00:37Previous discoveries of bone fragments put humans in the area around 16,000 years ago.

00:42But this find solidifies that evidence, with research lead Professor Lauren Davis saying

00:46about the find, quote,

00:47It's one thing to say we think that people were here in the Americas 16,000 years ago.

00:52It's another thing to measure it by finding well-made artifacts they left behind.

00:55The researchers note that there is a significant similarity between these dart tips and those

00:59discovered in Japan from around the same period, meaning there could be a cultural or genetic

01:04similarity between the two groups.